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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23735023">Tiny Crown</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LintheWriter/pseuds/LintheWriter'>LintheWriter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>No Fandom, Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Amnesia, Attempted Murder, Car Accidents, Complete, Family, Family Secrets, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Kidnapping, Musical References, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Limited, Past Abuse, Secrets, Teenagers, Temporary Amnesia, weird family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 00:21:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>23,998</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23735023</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LintheWriter/pseuds/LintheWriter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Emilia moves in with her aunt, she expects an escape from stress. Unfortunately, not being stressed is difficult when she gets hit by a car and wakes up to a stranger taking her to his house.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A fluffy leopard print cushion was carefully placed on the double bed. Each of the three cushions - not including the two pillows normally on the double bed - had its own specific place on the bed. The leopard print one was in the middle, being the favourite, the Doctor Who one on the left, proudly displaying the Doctor, and the Labrador one on the right. Before the teenager had unpacked, the room was spotless as it was the guest room. Now, it had been personalised with splashes of colours and merchandise. Framed photos, drawings and posters of singers and bands lined the walls and Emilia’s lips curled into a satisfied smirk.</p><p>“Em! Food’s ready!” The smirk slipped from her face and she furrowed her brow as she tried to figure out if she heard it or if it was actually her aunt. After being called a second time, the teen definitely knew her Aunt was calling her down for food. Although reluctant to leave her new room, the rumbling in her stomach would not quieten and she sprinted downstairs for whatever her Aunt had cooked.</p><p>Rushing into the kitchen, she almost bumped into her aunt but slowed down and moved to the right to avoid her. She snatched the plate off the wooden counter and balanced it on one hand while the other pulled open a drawer and grabbed a knife and fork. Her hip was used to close the drawer and she moved back through the hall to the living room with both hands clutching the plain plate. She sat on the couch and shuffled back so her back touched the red fabric that covered the back of the couch. Both Emilia and her ginger relative, who sat next to each other on the couch, were silent while watching their favourite show.</p><p>As soon as the adverts began, the older woman sighed.<br/>“I still can’t believe she didn’t send anyone with you,” she grumbled. “I’m having a word with Penny over that.”<br/>“I’m fifteen, Aunt Kat,” protested Emilia with a roll of her eyes.<br/>“Exactly,” said her aunt. Emilia smiled as she knew her aunt was only trying to keep her safe. Neither of them had much family left; not any more. “We’re going to visit your new school tomorrow and hopefully they’ll let you start next week.”<br/>“Great,” Em muttered. “Can’t I be homeschooled?”<br/>“I’d love to but I’d also love you to get a good education,” said Kat. “And you know I can’t with my job.”<br/>“I know,” she sighed.</p><p>Aunt Kat parked in the school car park in her SUV. As they walked through the blue gates of the school, Em dragged her feet on the tarmac.<br/>“Em, can you be a bit more cheery please?” sighed Kat as she paused and turned to Emilia who was a few feet away. “For me?” Em bit her lip as she thought but then nodded and then ran to catch up before matching her Aunt’s pace.</p><p>Emilia and her Aunt were shown around Oak Park High, it had an easy layout and all the rooms had a number and letter to represent them. Emilia noted where the music classroom and the theatre was located, hoping she would be able to take the same courses as before. As the majority of the tour was taken during the lessons, they mostly avoided students until it was lunch time. Luckily, they tended to avoid them as the woman conducting the tour around school was a strict woman, scolding passing students on neatness and bad language. After the hour and a half tour around the school, Emilia no longer had to listen to Kat reminiscing of her school days at Oak Park High or the teacher scolding students. This meant she could no longer hum the tune of Pompeii as her Aunt and several higher-ups within the school discussed her attendance.</p><p>“Where are we going?” questioned Em as her forehead rested on the cold window. Her fingertips poked at the window as she pretended to poke the raindrops on the other side of the glass.<br/>“To fetch your school stuff,” replied Kat without taking her eyes off the road.<br/>“I’m tired,” groaned Emilia as she tried to think of any excuse for her Aunt to turn the car around.</p><p>“I’ll get you McDonald’s?” Emilia hummed in thought.<br/>“Only if… you let me play In The Heights,” she bargained. After a reluctant nod, Em eagerly grabbed the CD from the draw in the dash and fumbled as she began to play it on the CD player. The first track began playing and Aunt Kat groaned.<br/>“I regret this.”<br/>“Lights up on Washington Heights, up at the break of the day!”</p><p>As the two females walked through the stationery aisle, Kat grabbed packs of pens, pencils, rubbers and sharpeners and dropped them in the metal basket which hung from her right arm. Emilia, who had been dragging her feet across the typical, durable shop floor again, stopped to pick up a pack of Sharpies.<br/>“Can I have them please?”<br/>“Twenty?” asked Kat.<br/>“Please?”<br/>“What for?” sighed Kat.<br/>“Please?” repeated Em. Kat rolled her eyes and held out the basket to Emilia who put them inside while a smile spread across her face.</p><p>They moved to the clothing section as they needed to browse clothes that fitted the dress code for the school. After finding several pairs of jeans and leggings and some shirts to go with them, they began to look around at nothing in particular.</p><p>“Katherine? Is that you?” asked a shrill voice. There was an annoying clicking noise of heels on the shop floor. Kat cringed and shuddered but turned around with a fake smile on her face anyway. “You don’t have children, what are you doing here?”<br/>“I’m here with my niece, Emilia,” said Kat through gritted teeth. “She’s living with me for a while.” Emilia gave an awkward wave to the greying woman. In the next aisle, several screams were heard.<br/>“Oh, sorry this was cut short, nice seeing you both but I must sort out Nathan and Olivia, they’ll be in your classes, I’m sure. Anyway, Jerry can’t deal with them so I must be off.” The woman tottered away, the shiny blue heels still clicking in an irritating way.</p><p>Once she was gone, Kat let out a deep sigh of annoyance and pinched the bridge of her nose.<br/>“God, I hate that woman,” she hissed while walking in the opposite direction.<br/>“Why?” asked Emilia.<br/>“She ridicules everyone for the tiniest things! They nearly got done for harassment a few years ago because a couple in down the road were having some issues,” huffed the ginger.</p><p>“Let’s just go and pay.”<br/>“And go to McDonald’s,” added Emilia. Kat smiled.<br/>“Yes and go to McDonald’s.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Em, have you taken your tablet?” Kat asked as a friendly reminder.<br/>“Yeah,” replied Emilia as she stuffed a dinosaur pencil case - so full with pens the zip almost broke - into her bag with notebooks and textbooks. Once the pencil case was in, she spotted the plastic tub and pulled out the pencil case and put in the lunch box then the stationery.<br/>“Are you definitely sure?”<br/>“Yes, I am sure,” she groaned.<br/>“Don’t forget the bus pass,” she reminded.<br/>“Okay, okay, I’ve got it!” said Emilia as she grabbed the pass off of the table.</p><p>Three knocks on the front door surprised the both of them. At the door was a boy with messy hair with a smile on his face.<br/>“Hey, Mom said Emilia could have a lift since it’s her first day,” he said politely to Kat<br/>“Tell Melissa thank you, I’ll just tell Emilia and she’ll be here in a minute or two.” Kat left the door open and walked into the living room.</p><p>“I heard,” said Emilia before her aunt could start talking. Putting her backpack over one shoulder, she headed to the front door. “Nathan, right?”<br/>“Yep,” he said, still smiling. Aunt Kat appeared behind her.<br/>“Love you, see you later, Em,” she said.<br/>“Okay then,” groaned Emilia.</p><p>“And here’s the keys you’ll be needing in case I’m kept over at work,” she said as she dangled a key attached to a mickey mouse keyring in front of her niece’s face. Emilia grabbed it and stuffed it into her pocket. She stepped down and found herself feeling short next to Nathan. Following Nathan to the car, he opened the silver car door and she got in. Nathan followed and slammed the car door shut with enough force to shake the car.</p><p>“Thank you for dropping me off at school,” thanked Emilia. Melissa took the compliment and smiled.<br/>“It’s okay, dear, I drive past on Monday mornings anyway.”<br/>“Oh, but thanks anyway,” she said. Emilia shut the door and began to walk towards the school while Nathan headed over to his friends.</p><p>Emilia took a seat in the middle of the class in the only empty seat. Luckily, the teacher was not set on causing awkwardness for the new student and just mentioned it before starting the music theory lesson. As he finished the lesson, the bell rang and the teens started to leave.<br/>“Emilia, can you wait back for a minute?” asked Mr Miranda. Emilia waited for everyone to leave and awkwardly waited for the man to address her. “Thank you. You don’t know an Evan Harper do you?”<br/>“Nope, sorry sir,” she said.</p><p>“He was an old student and really good at music, you remind me of him, I thought you might be related or know him or something,” he said.<br/>“I have a friend with that last name though, he’s a twin called Nathan, his sister is Olivia,” she said. Mr Miranda nodded and apologised for wasting her time.</p><p>When lunchtime came, Emilia found herself alone. Glancing to her left, she could see Nathan with all of his friends. Friends which she didn’t know and didn’t feel like awkwardly introducing herself to, at least not on the first day. They seemed kind of loud and rowdy too and she didn’t really want to deal with that. She barely knew his sister so sitting with her was probably not the best option.</p><p>Her gaze focused on a table of teachers and students who sat at the back of the hall. She began to make her way over to them and saw a free seat next to none other than her music teacher.<br/>“No one’s sitting here, right?” she asked.<br/>“No, no, er…” Mr Miranda hit the table with his hand as he struggled to remember her name. “Emilia?”<br/>“Yep, that’s it,” she said as she took off her bag and sat down.</p><p>“Welcome to the musical trash table!” shouted a dark-haired boy at the other end of the table. “What’s the last musical you listened to and which song?” Startled, Emilia froze as her mind went blank.<br/>“Edwar-”<br/>“Eddie.”<br/>“What have I told you about randomly asking people that question?” scolded another teacher at the table.<br/>“It’s okay,” said Emilia. “It was… Hamilton and It’s Quiet Uptown.” Mr Miranda seemed happy at her choice of musical as he high-fived one of the other kids at the table.</p><p>While Emilia ate, she listened to other people’s conversations. Mr Miranda was taking ideas for the next school play or musical as it seemed to be.<br/>“There’s too many for Dear Evan Hansen, Eddie,” said the music teacher. “It has a cast of eight and everyone is getting a part.”<br/>“What about In The Heights? Twelve main characters but we’d need an ensemble,” said Eddie who had his fingers crossed. Seeing the man’s hesitance, he then suggested another musical. “Be More Chill? Twelve and no ensemble.”<br/>“We’ll see,” sighed Mr Miranda. Emilia chuckled at the excited conversations taking place.</p><p>Eddie stood and walked over to Emilia. He put his arm around her shoulders.<br/>“What school did you come from?”<br/>“Littlerock High School,” she said. Seeing his blank face, she then added: “It’s at least a few hours away from here.”<br/>“Oh,” he said as he nodded. “Well you’re part of the musical trash table now, there’s no going back.”<br/>“Officially, we’re the Musical Theatre Club,” Mr Miranda pointed out. “We meet every Friday lunch time in the music room.”<br/>“Yeah, so musical trash,” said Eddie.</p><p>“Can you stop standing behind me like you’re a Squip?” joked Emilia. He just laughed and tried to slide across the floor to his seat. Instead there was a horrible squeaking noise most of the table winced at. “Can I sit with you guys tomorrow?” Her response was smiles and yeses as she found herself among friends.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Do you have any siblings or anything?” asked Nathan as he kicked at some longer tufts of grass at the edge of the road.<br/>“No,” said Emilia as she shook her head. “I always used to want one when I was younger though.”<br/>“Eh, they’re not that great.” Nathan shrugged and stopped kicking the grass as he walked. “I mean, Olivia is okay… I guess. My older half brother isn’t so great but Liv likes him.”</p><p>“Older brother?” asked Emilia with raised eyebrows. Mr Miranda mentioning Evan Harper came to the forefront of her mind. “Does he happen to be called Evan?”<br/>Nathan stopped for a moment before nodding slowly. “Half brother but… yeah, actually. How would you know that?”<br/>“Mr Miranda mentioned him,” said Emilia, furrowing her brow. Did it really matter that much to him? It wasn’t as if she’d met his brother or anything. Well, half brother. He had corrected her on that so it must have meant something to him. “Said I reminded him of someone called Evan Harper, I just assumed you might be related to him or something.”<br/>“You’re nothing like him, trust me,” Nathan said. He sounded a little irritated.<br/>“Oh, okay,” said Emilia, shrugging it off. How Nathan and how Mr Miranda viewed Evan Harper were probably pretty different.</p><p>Emilia put her hand in her jacket pockets, they had quickly gotten filled with bits of paper, her rubber and some pens and pencils she hadn’t bothered putting away. At the bottom of her right pocket was a circular and cool piece of metal. Pulling the familiar object out, Emilia put the ring on her finger and smiled.</p><p>“You aren’t allowed to wear rings at school,” Nathan said. He still sounded a little bit irritated.<br/>“I know, I wasn’t wearing it at school. I just put it on.”<br/>“Can I look?” he asked. Biting her lip, she looked down at it and reluctantly slipped it off her finger. She placed it in his hand and he looked at the silver tiny crown-shaped ring. “This is nice.”</p><p>Nathan stumbled and it fell from his hand onto the grass near the road. As he went to pick it up, he stumbled again and it rolled down into the ditch.<br/>“I am so sorry,” he said. He looked into the ditch to try to see it.<br/>“It’s okay, I’ll just go get it,” said Emilia, slightly disappointed in her friend. Although, it was an accident.</p><p>As she went to slide down into the ditch, Nathan grabbed her arm. Emilia furrowed her brow.<br/>“Nathan, get off.” She yanked her arm out of his grip.<br/>“No one goes down there, it’s someone’s land.”<br/>“Well I’m sure they won’t mind if some girl gets a ring she dropped because her friend dropped it,” she sighed. He seemed oddly nervous despite his usual confidence.<br/>“Well fine, but I’m going,” he decided. Emilia rolled her eyes at him and shrugged.</p><p>She didn’t realise how dark it was while she was down in the ditch. Light was fading as it was but the trees seemed to block out a lot of light. Spotting her ring, she crouched down to pick it up.<br/>“Get off.” Glancing up, she saw a tall man towering over her. She grabbed the ring and some dirt with it.<br/>“I was just-”<br/>“Get off,” he repeated. Frightened, she clenched her fist tighter and scrambled back up to the road. Nathan couldn’t be seen on the edge of the road which was odd, she hadn’t been in the ditch for more than a few minutes. Looking back at the trees, she couldn’t see whoever the tall man was and she quickly decided to make her way back to Aunt Kat’s house.</p><p>When she reached home, Em headed straight to her room and put a CD into the CD player. She turned it up as she kicked off her shoes. They were kind of dirty and so were her hands.<br/>“Hey, are you okay?” asked Kat, poking her head through the door. “I can tell you’re worried.”<br/>“I’m fine,” she lied, looking away. She stuffed her hands into her pockets to hide the dirt on them. Kat opened the door further.<br/>“I know you’re not. You do the exact same thing as your Mom, you look anywhere but at the person you’re talking to.”</p><p>“I’m just worried,” she admitted. Then she realised how stupid she might sound if she told the truth. “I’m just worried that some of my friends won’t really like me. That they’re only talking to me because I’m the new kid.” Kat sat next to her niece and wrapped her arm around her.<br/>“You’ll be fine, Emilia.” She smiled weakly at Kat. “Anyone who doesn’t want you as a friend is missing out big time. They’d be lucky to have a friend like you.”<br/>“Thanks,” Emilia mumbled. Her phone began ringing and the Skype call appeared on her phone.<br/>“I’ll let you answer that.” Aunt Kat left Emilia to open up her laptop and talk to her old friend.</p><p>The black screen changed at last and the face of her old friend appeared. They both smiled at each other.<br/>“Sam! How are you?”<br/>“Good, you?” he asked.<br/>“Fine,” she said.<br/>“I’m still surprised you still talk to me,” said Sam.<br/>“Aww no, Sam!” she said, surprised her friend would say such a thing. “I could never replace you! Listen, why don’t me and my Aunt come and visit in a few weeks? I’m sure she won’t mind.”</p><p>Almost two hours later, the friends had finally said goodbye to each other and Emilia lay back on her bed. Her phone began to ring and she looked at the screen. Nathan. Her finger slid the phone icon over to the answer part and held the phone to her ear.</p><p>“Hey Emilia.”<br/>“Hi,” she said awkwardly, wondering why he didn’t just text her.<br/>“I won’t be in school for a few days cause-” Nathan sneezed on the other side of the call. “I’m sick.”<br/>“I can tell. You should have just messaged.”<br/>“Yeah, but typing takes more effort. Anyway, you’ll have to walk alone unless you want to walk with my sister?”<br/>“I’m fine, thanks, I’m meeting Eddie by the but anyway.”<br/>“Eddie?” asked Nathan. “I didn’t think you were the musical theatre type.”<br/>“Right…” Emilia said slowly, unsure of how to respond to him. “What type did you think I was?”<br/>“I don’t know, anyway, I’m going to go now.” Nathan hung up and Emilia just looked at the phone in confusion. Nathan was a little bit weird.</p><p>Emilia walked to the bus alone the next day and the day after that. Eddie stood by the bus stop and began walking over when he noticed her. Eddie hugged his friend and Emilia tensed. He quickly pulled away and she awkwardly looked away.<br/>“S-sorry, I didn’t-”<br/>“I wasn’t expecting it,” Emilia said, laughing a little. “I didn’t mean to react so badly.”<br/>“It’s fine, it was a bit weird though,” admitted Eddie. Emilia nodded. “You were supposed to say it wasn’t!” They laughed to avoid any more awkwardness.</p><p>At the end of the day, with the bonus of having Mr Miranda last lesson so they finished five minutes earlier, the two friends boarded the bus and headed back home.<br/>“Hug?” Emilia offered. Eddie nodded and hugged the girl. “See you tomorrow.”<br/>“See you tomorrow,” he said. They both waved to each other as they walked in opposite directions away from the bus stop.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The silver car sped around the corner.</p><p>Hitting the ground with a thud, she winced and squeezed her eyes shut. The blurry world around her made her want to throw up. Her stomach was twisting and her head was pounding.</p><p>The car didn't stop.</p><p>Emilia's arm was lifted by someone with cold hands. They pressed their fingers to her wrist. There was a pulse. Emilia groaned and her arm hit the ground.<br/>
“Ow,” she muttered as she opened her eyes.<br/>
“Does it hurt anywhere?” asked whoever had picked up her wrist. Emilia looked to her left to look at the curly-haired man.<br/>
“My ribs,” she whispered, her throat was dry. “Just my ribs, I think.”</p><p>“Can you sit up?” he asked. Emilia put her hands on the road and tried to push herself up into a sitting position. He went to help her but was swatted away.<br/>
“Get away from me,” she hissed as she managed to sit up. “I don’t know you. Did you hit me?”<br/>
“No. I’m just trying to help,” he said in an exasperated tone.<br/>
“I don’t need your help.” She glared at the tall stranger as she tried to stand up. She failed and the man held his hand out for her. Reluctantly, Emilia took the man’s hand and managed to stand up.</p><p>Looking around, she could see the tall snow-capped mountains beyond the forests either side of the road. She felt like she should know where she was but there was nothing. She had no idea where she was. A phone was on the path, it’s screen smashed with part of the glass missing.</p><p>For a few seconds, she stood steadily on her feet but began to fall. A hand kept her from colliding with the grey road again.</p><p>The man looked at the road where the car had disappeared and he closed his eyes tightly. He muttered something before turning to Emilia. He picked her up and he felt her hit his back.<br/>
“Hey, what are you doing?” she asked as she was lifted into the air. “Put me down! Just call a fucking ambulance!” She didn’t know him, he wasn’t a familiar face. She couldn’t think of any familiar faces.</p><p>“Shush,” he said. “Someone will hear you.”<br/>
“What do you think I'm trying to do?” Emilia hissed as she struggled. “Let me go!”<br/>
“I can't let you go,” he said as he carried her over his shoulder. The road had disappeared and the ground was just a blur as she looked through the strands of her brown hair.<br/>
“Why? This… It-it’s wrong! It's illegal!”</p><p>“Put me down! Put me down! I don't know you!” she yelled as she struggled in his grasp. A branch scraped along her arm and her ribs ached as she tried to get away from the weird man. Emilia screamed and called for help but no one came to her aid.</p><p>With a strange amount of care, the man set her down on the grey slabs. Everything seemed kind of fuzzy and she felt light headed from the screaming.<br/>
“Be quiet,” he said in a low voice. It didn’t help the nauseous feeling in her stomach at all. “I know you can’t run.” He was probably right about that, her head was beginning to ache and her ribs still hurt. Emilia stayed quiet and watched as he pulled a brass key from his pocket. It was just a key, no keyrings or attachments at all, not even a ring where a keyring might have been attached before. Nothing. He fumbled with it for a few moments before eventually unlocking the door and pushed it open.</p><p>“Go inside then,” he said as if it was the obvious thing to do. Emilia stared at him. She wanted to run. Why wasn’t her body cooperating? She wanted to run, she wanted to get away from him.</p><p>No.</p><p>She <em> needed </em> to run and she <em> needed </em> to get away from him.</p><p>But she couldn’t move, she was frozen in place by muscles which screamed for her to just sit down or lie down so they could rest. Emilia felt him grab her wrist and gently push her through the doorway. She yanked her arm from his grip, it wasn’t hard to. He wasn’t using much strength.</p><p>Looking around at the house, she noticed something weird. Everything was too clean. She could see her reflection almost perfectly in the granite counter tops. Her face was bleeding a little. There was no stains, no marks, no scratches. Not even any crumbs. It was like the place had been plucked out of a tv commercial.</p><p>Behind her was a living room with dark carpet and what looked like leather couches. Even the coffee table in there looked too clean. She couldn’t see any marks from cups or any scratches. There weren’t even any newspapers or magazines on the table, just a candle holder with a tealight in it.</p><p>Click.</p><p>The door.</p><p>“You locked it,” she said. She felt so stupid stating the obvious as she watched him put the key into his pocket.<br/>
“Yes, I did,” he said. He gestured for her to follow him and she did, not wanting to be pulled wherever he wanted. “You’re Emilia.”<br/>
“How do you know that?” she asked as she leaned against the counter, she still wasn’t too steady on her feet. She didn’t know him, did she? She couldn’t remember him. Did she have a stalker?</p><p>She didn’t get a reply and he just opened a cupboard. He pulled out a chocolate and pushed it across the counter to her. Looking at it, Emilia felt pangs of hunger. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten anything.<br/>
“It’s not poisoned, I haven’t even opened it,” he said. Slowly, she picked it up. He could be lying. But she was also really hungry and eating it might mean less pain, for now at least.</p><p>The tall stranger watched as she eagerly unwrapped the food and bit into the chocolate. It was delicious and she definitely felt less hungry after eating it.<br/>
“I’m Evan,” he said as he grabbed the wrapper off the counter and put it in the bin near the door he had locked. “Are you cold?” Not sure how to respond, she just shook her head. “But you’re shaking.” Emilia looked at the hand which was clutching onto the counter for support. It was violently shaking but she wasn’t really cold.<br/>
“I’m scared,” she said. Emilia struggled to think of why he didn’t consider that. “I got hit by a car and then locked in your house, of course I’m scared.”<br/>
“Oh.”</p><p>Oh? Was he crazy? She hoped he wasn’t, she didn’t want to be kidnapped by a crazy person. Then again, all kidnappers kind of had to be crazy, didn’t they?</p><p>He stepped towards her and she instinctively stepped back.</p><p>“Don’t resist, it’ll make everything worse,” he said quietly as he walked closer to her. He sounded sort of desperate. Overwhelmed, Emilia felt his hand grasp her wrist again and pull her in the direction of the stairs. Head pounding, body aching, she just followed hoping it wasn’t anything sexual.</p><p>At the top of the stairs, there was a door on her left. The landing went around the stairs and behind them, probably to more rooms. It stretched out around what seemed to be the end of the room too. Evan gently pushed her towards the open door on the left. There was something off about it but she couldn’t quite place it as she walked in the room.</p><p>Clean.</p><p>Too clean. Like the kitchen. The cream walls were oddly free of dirt or marks, the cherry wardrobe and drawers (with an alarm clock and a vase of purple lilies on top) were free of major scratches but it looked quite old. Looking away from the wardrobe on her right, she looked at the bed. It had plain sheets of a solid light grey colour. At the end of the bed was a desk, also - unsurprising at this point - devoid of ink marks or scratches with a chair tucked underneath. As she took in her environment, she found herself walking towards the bed when-</p><p>Slam.</p><p>Click.</p><p>The door.</p><p>Spinning one-eighty, Emilia stared at the shut door. Rushing to it, Em frantically pulled on the door handle. It was locked. On the outside. That’s what was odd about the door to the bedroom. Something wasn’t right, he couldn’t have planned it. Yet, he knew her name…</p><p>Her palms hit the wooden door one after the other after the other after the other. It was hurting her ribs and her head but she carried on anyway.<br/>
“Let me out!” she screamed, feeling panic and realisation set in.<br/>
“I can’t,” she heard Evan say quietly. “Just… please don’t try anything.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Emilia wasn’t sure how long she had been lying on the bed, lifelessly staring up at the ceiling. Her ribs ached so she figured it was best not to move. The room was en suite and it didn’t have any windows. She didn’t have the energy to look around any more, she doubted there was an escape from the room. It was strange that it had a lock on the outside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a faint knocking sound, disturbing the quiet she had gotten used to. She could hear faint talking downstairs and some louder talking a few minutes later.<br/></span>
  <span>“You’ve ruined everything!” The voice was high pitched and they sounded fairly angry at someone. “This was supposed to work!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia wondered what was supposed to work. She wondered if whoever it was knew she was there. They probably didn’t.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She heard the door slamming and she flinched, she wasn’t expecting it to be that loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The house was quiet after that but it didn’t bother her as she just stared up at the ceiling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Some time later, the door to the bedroom opened. She didn’t bother to look over at who she presumed was Evan.<br/></span>
  <span>“I’m going to cook food, is there anything you’d like or specifically don’t want?” His voice sounded different. Emilia looked over at him, his eyes were a bit glassy and his cheeks were a little red.<br/></span>
  <span>“Have you been crying?” she asked furrowing her brow as she sat up properly.<br/></span>
  <span>“Does it matter if I have?” he asked. Emilia shrugged. He might be more likely to hurt her if he was upset, despite the offer of food.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you have pasta?” she asked after the awkward minute of silence.<br/></span>
  <span>“Yes, I have pasta,” he said. He smiled a little and Emilia stood up, wincing as her ribs and now her legs ached.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Somehow, Emilia ended up sitting on his couch eating pasta, which tasted delicious. She hadn’t panicked yet. She thought she would have panicked by now. It was also strange how nice Evan was being. He was her kidnapper and from what she could remember, they were supposed to be mean and cruel. Evan hadn’t really been either of those. Not yet, at least.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was sitting in a different living room, this one had a window facing out towards the driveway. The black car parked there was presumably Evan’s. The driveway to the road looked like a fairly long way, no one would be looking in the windows and spotting her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where do I put this?” asked Emilia as she gestured to her empty plate.<br/></span>
  <span>“Just on the counter,” said Evan. Emilia stood and walked to the kitchen. She set the plate down on the counter near what looked like the dishwasher.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Glancing at the door, Emilia wondered if it was locked. It probably was and glanced at the door. Someone had visited but she didn’t know if they had entered and left through the front or the back door. Either way, there was a chance that the door might be locked if they did use this door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her clammy hand closed around the door handle. Opening the door, she took a shaky breath in. It was open. It was actually open. Emilia took a step out. It was getting dark now. The air was cool on her skin and she noticed her leggings were a little ripped. Thankfully, it was near her ankle and not higher up her legs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hands grabbed her shoulders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought it was obvious that you’re not supposed to leave,” said Evan. Emilia froze but let him guide her away back inside his house. She stood in the kitchen, feeling numb. His hands left her shoulders as he walked over to the door and shut it. “I know it might be hard to understand, especially since you can’t remember everything right now, but you can’t leave.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan grabbed his key and locked the door. Emilia squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop her sudden tears. He stuffed the key back in his pocket.<br/>“I just want to go home, I don’t want to be here, I don’t know you. I swear, I won’t tell anyone. I’ll say I stopped over at a friend’s and got hit by a car and I got lost or something, I don’t know, just please… please let me go. I won’t tell anyone. Just let me go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emilia…” he trailed off. Evan sighed. “I can’t. You have to believe me, you have to trust me.”<br/>“I’m not going to trust you,” she said, confused on how he would think she would do that. “You’ve locked me in here, kidnapped me. I don’t know you! How can I trust you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Upstairs. Now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His voice was deeper and his hands were balled into fists at his side. Emilia took a step back at his sudden change in demeanour. That was what she had been expecting from him.<br/></span>
  <span>“Are you going to lock me in again?” she asked.<br/></span>
  <span>“Now,” he repeated, avoiding eye contact. He couldn’t even look her in the eye.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not wanting to anger him out of fear of what he could do, Emilia headed up the stairs and walked back into the weird bedroom with the lock on the outside of the door. The door creaked shut and Emilia heard the clicking of the lock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Closing her eyes, Emilia felt the tears escape them.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>She wasn’t sure what time it was when she woke up. She didn’t even know if it was night or day since there were no windows. Emilia turned onto her side and immediately regretted it as her body screamed out with pain. Closing her eyes again, she took a few deep breaths. She’d have to move eventually. And even though she knew it already, something just finally seemed to sink in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t remember the last few weeks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a click and the door swung open.<br/></span>
  <span>“Morning,” she heard. Groaning, she watched as Evan set a pile of folded clothes on the drawers next to the wardrobe. He turned to look at her. “Is everything alright?”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia shook her head. “No.” Wincing, she forced herself to sit up on the bed.<br/></span>
  <span>“Are you in pain?” he asked. She nodded. “I can get you painkillers if that will help.” Emilia slowly nodded again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What day had it been? What date could she remember?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>January.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>January 17th 2017.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her Mom had been released from the hospital a few days ago, she needed to get back to her Mom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s the date?”<br/>Evan furrowed his brow as he watched her. “April 7th.”<br/></span>
  <span>“It can’t be,” was her first reaction.<br/></span>
  <span>“Emilia,” said Evan as he knelt on the floor in front of her. “What do you think the date is?”<br/></span>
  <span>“January 17th, that’s the last date I can remember.”<br/></span>
  <span>“And the year?”<br/></span>
  <span>“2017,” she said quickly. Hopefully it was still the same year.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” said Evan. Slowly, he nodded. “Okay, you’re missing, like, three months, it’s April 7th.”<br/></span>
  <span>“How?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Do you remember what happened yesterday on the road?” he asked as he pushed some of his curls out of his face.<br/></span>
  <span>“A car accident or something?” said Emilia as she realised she couldn’t actually remember whatever had happened to her. She’d seen the road and she was in pain so she had just assumed… but she couldn’t remember what had happened before. “I… I don’t know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as she spoke, she felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn’t want to cry.<br/></span>
  <span>“Hey, Emilia,” said Evan. He spoke softly and she found it hard to believe the angry man from the night previous was the same person as the one kneeling in front of her. “Look at me, everything will be fine, alright? Your memory will probably come back soon.”<br/></span>
  <span>“What if it doesn’t?” she asked as she looked into his blue eyes.<br/></span>
  <span>“Well…” he said, trailing off and looking away. “We just have to hope it does and it could always be much worse.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. The silence was disturbed by the beginning of a song, one that seemed familiar to her. Quickly, Evan pulled his phone from his jeans’ pockets and looked at the screen. He frowned as he rejected the call.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I came here to tell you that you can wear my sister’s clothes, if they fit. Obviously I’m going to have to get you some new things but if they fit, you can wear them,” he said as he looked over his shoulder at the clothes on the drawer. “I’m cooking bacon for breakfast too, if you want some.”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia nodded as she looked at the clothes. “Yes, thank you.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I’ll be downstairs then,” he said, smiling as he stood up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he had left, Emilia shut the door. It didn’t click and lock as she had expected. She walked over to the clothes and sifted through them until she found things she could wear. Emilia peeled off her leggings and cleaned the first and specks of blood off her leg where the leggings had ripped. Then, she washed her face and hands before changing into clean clothes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She tried to keep her mind off her memory, or lack thereof, and headed downstairs. The smell of bacon cooking was distracting enough. Emilia reached the bottom of the stairs and could see Evan cooking the bacon. The sleeves of his red plaid shirt were rolled up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do the clothes fit?” he asked as he made the bacon sandwich. He cut the sandwich and pushed the counter. Somehow, he pushed it with just enough force for it to stop in front of Emilia. She smiled a little.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s pretty cool,” she said with a small smile. She couldn’t believe she had just said that to him.<br/></span>
  <span>“Yeah, I guess it is,” he said, smiling back. When she went to take the plate and sit somewhere else, he called after her. “Stay in here.” Emilia turned and put the plate back down. Evan turned back to her, still avoiding eye contact.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s that?” asked Emilia, noticing a stretched scar on his forearm. It looked old. Evan looked down and realised the scar was visible.<br/></span>
  <span>“It’s nothing,” he said as he pulled his sleeve down to cover it. The other sleeve was then pulled down.<br/></span>
  <span>“Are you sure?” asked Emilia, furrowing her brow. It didn’t look like nothing.<br/></span>
  <span>“It’s nothing,” he repeated. It seemed like Evan was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Emilia.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia decided against mentioning it again and busied herself with eating. She didn’t want to anger him again. When she had finished eating, he took the empty plate and put it in the dishwasher. Emilia tapped the counter as she wondered what she was supposed to do. Evan had just put his own plate in the dishwasher and had started speaking when he was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Knock. Knock. Knock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan froze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Knock. Knock. Knock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whoever it was, they were impatient. Evan motioned for her to go upstairs and Emilia was hesitant. But she didn't want to anger him and he could easily pick her up. Evan followed her up and locked her in the room. She could hear his quick footsteps as he sprinted downstairs to open the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Evan, what’s up?” asked a man. Or at least, they sounded like a man.<br/></span>
  <span>“Hm?” That was Evan’s voice.<br/></span>
  <span>“I asked, what’s up?” they repeated in an irritated tone. The voice sounded sort of familiar.<br/></span>
  <span>“Nothing,” was Evan’s short reply. It was almost like Evan was bored.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whatever they were saying became quieter and Emilia couldn't hear what they were saying. She wondered why the voice was familiar, maybe she had known them in those three missing months. Emilia sat with her back against the door in hopes of hearing something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Footsteps.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Evan, have you heard about Emilia?” asked whoever had come upstairs. Did they know her?<br/></span>
  <span>“Emilia?” asked Evan as he headed up the stairs.<br/></span>
  <span>“The one who was on the news this morning? My friend?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I didn’t see the news,” said Evan. His voice sounded completely devoid of emotion, almost like he was a completely different person.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a groan of frustration on the other side of the door. “The one I was talking about at dinner the other day? Mom picked her up for her first day at school the other day?” There was a short silence. “No? You’re useless, you know that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia tried to process what the stranger had said. He had said that he was her friend. But she couldn’t remember him. And that she’d started the first day of school. Had she switched schools?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The one who moved in with her aunt?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Yes!” they said in an exasperated tone. “Yes, that’s her. She’s gone missing. They found her phone smashed on the road and her bag was there too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia wanted to call out but she had the feeling that would end badly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where is she, Evan?” he asked sharply. “Mom said you ruined whatever she was doing so what did you do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was silent again and Emilia was glad she didn’t call out for help. It seemed whoever the person was, they knew something about whatever was happening and it didn’t sound like they were interested in calling the police.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” Evan lied. “I don't know where your friend is.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Don’t lie to me, Evan.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I’m not lying!” There was his anger again.<br/></span>
  <span>“Sure,” the person said. “If you say so.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were more footsteps.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m going, I can show myself out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>More footsteps.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door slammed shut.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few seconds later, the door was unlocked and Emilia scrambled away from it. The door swung open and Evan stood in the doorway.<br/></span>
  <span>“I’m guessing you heard some of that,” he said quietly.<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia nodded. “He knows me.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Yeah,” said Evan. “He was your friend. I’m his older brother.”<br/></span>
  <span>“That’s kind of weird,” said Emilia as she got to her feet. Her ribs were still sore. “You both know more about me in the last three months than I know.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I can tell you what I know, if it would help,” he offered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia shrugged and winced. “I’d like that,” she said. “I’d also like those painkillers you offered earlier.”<br/></span>
  <span>Evan smiled. “Yes, if you’d like.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Emilia sat cross-legged on the couch, waiting for the painkillers to work. Evan had given her a bottle of water to take the tablets with and she sipped from it as she waited for him. She could hear him from where she was sitting in the living room. He sounded rather angry with whoever he was talking to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, Evan sat beside her. He was clenching his phone tightly in his hand. The screen was cracked and Emilia wondered how that had happened.<br/></span>
  <span>“You sounded angry,” she said, watching as he put his phone down on the table.<br/></span>
  <span>“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” he said with a shrug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia hummed and nodded, trying to decide on the best way to ask him about what he knew of her.<br/></span>
  <span>“What do you know about me?” she asked bluntly. She couldn’t think of any other way to ask.<br/></span>
  <span>“Your name is Emilia Russel, you moved in with your aunt about a month or so ago. You started going to Oak Park High,” he said, listing off the things he could remember. “You’re friends with my brother, Nathan, and according to him you joined the musical theatre club.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I did?” asked Emilia with a small smile. Evan nodded. “That sounds like something I’d do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan watched her for a moment before continuing to list the things he knew. “You take music, you’re taught by Mr Miranda. I used to be taught by him.”<br/></span>
  <span>“You did?” she asked, laughing a little. “How long ago was that?”<br/></span>
  <span>“How old do you think I am?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t know,” said Emilia with a shrug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well it was about seven or eight years ago,” he said, laughing a little.<br/></span>
  <span>“You’re like…” She trailed off as she tried to work it out. “Twenty-something. Twenty four?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Higher?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Twenty five?” she asked. Evan nodded and Emilia laughed a little. “Really?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Yes?” he said it like he was a question. Emilia laughed again but part of her was internally screaming.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man in front of her was ten years older than her. Ten years. She was still fifteen, her birthday hadn’t happened yet.<br/></span>
  <span>“When’s your birthday?” she asked.<br/></span>
  <span>“Does it matter?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I was just curious,” Emilia said quietly. Maybe he didn’t like his birthday or something like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked away and looked around the living room. There was a fairly nice looking tv and a painting of the forest and mountains on the wall to her left. Next to the painting was a clock hung in the centre of the wall. It was almost twelve, it was almost midday.<br/></span>
  <span>“July 24th.”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia looked back at him with wide eyes. She hadn’t been expecting an answer. “That’s your birthday?” He nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I need to work,” he said as he stood up and began walking to the door. “If you need snacks just see what’s in the fridge. I’m ordering takeout later, I don’t feel like cooking.”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia stood up. “Wait, I-”<br/></span>
  <span>“What?” he asked, turning to look at her.<br/></span>
  <span>“My phone, it got left on the road, right?” asked Emilia. Evan nodded. “Does that mean they’re looking for me?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “Maybe not yet, it hasn’t been a day. Maybe in a few days but worrying about that won’t help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia felt the light mood sink around them. She couldn’t believe she was feeling disappointed in it.<br/></span>
  <span>“I’m trapped here,” she whispered. “I’m trapped here with no memory of the last three months and you’re the brother of a friend I can’t remember.”<br/></span>
  <span>Evan stared at her for a moment. “The doors are locked.” He turned and headed into a room across the hallway and Emilia felt her heart beating in her chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was an odd feeling and it was definitely uncomfortable. Her chest felt tighter and she couldn’t breathe without her chest hurting. Was she panicking? She probably was but she couldn’t tell if this was a panic attack or if it was her heart problem.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her heart problem.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t have any medication.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was a problem.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not sure what to do, Emilia sat back down on the couch and tried to take deep breaths. Emilia couldn’t bring herself to call out for help. She wouldn’t yell for her kidnapper to help her. The pain might pass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her shaky hand grabbed the water bottle off of the table and she fumbled to unscrew the cap. Taking a sip, she hoped the pain would pass soon.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was almost one o’clock when the pain finally disappeared. And even though the pain was gone, there was still a vaguely uncomfortable feeling. Evan hadn’t left the room opposite the living room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not sure what she should do, she stood up again and made her way to the kitchen. She wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t feel particularly hungry and she didn’t exactly have anything to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Walking around the kitchen, she realised it was clean again. There was no trace of the crumbs from their breakfast. It was odd. Out of the corner of her eye, Emilia thought that she could see something move. Turning, she realised it was just the trees outside. Feeling a little stupid, she watched the branches and leaves sway in the wind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She stood there for a while, wishing she could stand outside, even just for a minute or two. Emilia wanted to feel the cool air on her skin and the wind messing up her hair. Feeling like she could stare out of the window forever, Emilia climbed up onto the counter and sat down. The surface was hard and not that comfortable but she could deal with it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia flinched and turned to look at Evan. Her eyes were wide, was he going to yell at her?<br/></span>
  <span>“I…”<br/></span>
  <span>“It doesn’t look very comfortable,” he said as he walked over to the fridge. He opened the door and stared inside.<br/></span>
  <span>“I was looking out of the window,” she admitted quietly.<br/></span>
  <span>“The window?” he repeated. Evan faced her as he unwrapped his chocolate bar and shut the fridge with his shoulder.<br/></span>
  <span>“Well, I don’t have anything else to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan seemed to have realised something as he stared at her for a moment.<br/></span>
  <span>“I didn’t realise that would be a thing,” he said before biting into his chocolate.<br/></span>
  <span>“Didn’t realise what would be a thing?” asked Emilia with a furrowed brow.<br/></span>
  <span>“All of this, really,” he said. “I didn’t exactly plan to bring you here.”<br/></span>
  <span>“There’s a lock on the bedroom door that would disagree with that,” she said.<br/></span>
  <span>“That’s been there for years,” he said quickly. Before she could think too much about it, he spoke again. “But, anyway, I… I probably should find something for you to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded to himself as he threw the wrapper in the bin. “What would you want to do?”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia shrugged. “I… I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I could read or something. I’ve never not liked reading, unless it was for school which doesn’t really count.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I have a lot of books. You’re welcome to read any of them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia’s eyebrows raised in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to say that. Evan was a strange man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s some books in the living room and more on the landing upstairs,” he said. Emilia nodded, reluctant to thank the man. He was still her kidnapper.<br/></span>
  <span>“Are you going back to work then?” she asked, feeling rather eager about exploring whatever books he had in his possession.<br/></span>
  <span>“Not yet,” he said. “I’ve been working for three hours, I need a break. Apparently, it’s unhealthy to sit down for that long too.”<br/></span>
  <span>“But you still do it?” asked Emilia with a small smile.<br/></span>
  <span>Evan smiled a little and nodded. “Yes, I still do it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is ‘work’?” asked Emilia. She knew that she might not get an answer but she was curious about how much Evan would tell her.<br/></span>
  <span>“I’m sure you remember that.”<br/></span>
  <span>“No, I mean, what is your work?”<br/></span>
  <span>“It depends,” he said. Emilia couldn’t tell if he was being purposefully vague or just lying to her like she had heard him lie to his brother.<br/></span>
  <span>“Oh,” she said. It was probably better to just leave it at that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia ended up picking up a fantasy book from the shelf in the living room. She hadn’t heard of it before but it sounded interesting with two neighbouring kingdoms at war. She sipped the water again before getting comfortable on the couch and reading the book.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Several hours later, Evan left his office and stood in the doorway to the living room.<br/></span>
  <span>“What food do you want?” he asked.<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia looked up from her book at him and shrugged. “I don’t know.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Is chicken alright?” he asked. Emilia hummed and then nodded. “I’ll order us something chicken from somewhere.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia couldn’t help but smile at him and Evan smiled back. As soon as he disappeared from view, she realised she was smiling and it immediately morphed into a frown. She shouldn’t be smiling at him. She was stuck here, he had trapped her here. She shouldn’t be smiling, not at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a sigh, Emilia looked back at the book. She had reached a part where the King was holding court. Except, it wasn’t like the medieval court she thought it would be, it was closer to a modern day court with a judge and a jury. A young woman was trying to convince the king that a man was innocent of some of the murders he had been accused of.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now that Evan had left the room, which Emilia presumed was an office, Emilia decided to put the book away. She would never remember the page number, she was never good at that, and she didn’t want to ask for a bookmark so she supposed she’d have to fold the page corner. It wasn’t like Evan would be able to know anyway. Folding the top right corner of page 159, Emilia put the book away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Grabbing the almost empty bottle of water, Emilia headed to the kitchen. Evan was leaning against a kitchen counter, tapping and scrolling through his phone. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted Emilia.<br/></span>
  <span>“Are you alright with fries and stuff?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Sure,” she said slowly. He just nodded. Emilia finished the last of the water in the bottle. “What do I do with the empty bottle?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan turned to look at her properly. He held his hand out and Emilia handed him the bottle. He muttered a thanks before opening a cupboard underneath the sink. It had a plastic tub with a few other empty bottles and cans in it. He threw the bottle into the tub before shutting the cupboard door. After moving back to where he was standing, he unlocked his phone and continued tapping on it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Less than a minute later, Evan spoke. “Food should be here in about half an hour.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia decided not to ask him about his cracked phone.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Emilia found herself staring up at the blank white ceiling yet again. The food was nice and she didn’t feel guilty or wrong about calling that food nice since Evan wasn’t the one who had cooked it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remembering what Evan had said about moving in with her aunt, Emilia closed her eyes and tried to imagine her aunt. Hopefully, imagining her aunt might help her remember the missing three months. As she lay there in borrowed pajamas, in a bed that was not her own, Emilia realised something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She would have only moved in with her aunt if her mother was dead or ill enough to warrant her staying with her aunt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Desperate for her mother to not be dead, Emilia clung to the hope that her mother was just a little more ill than usual and that she would get better soon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And yet, there were no memories.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was irritating, trying to remember something that wasn’t there. Something that was always blank, always nothingness. It was like trying to hold onto air and it felt impossible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Feeling tears well up in her eyes yet again, Emilia didn’t try to hide them. There was no reason to hide them, no one could see her cry except for herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She found herself in the bathroom, leaning against the sink with toilet paper in her hands, wiping away the tears when they were too much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She just wanted to remember something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were two knocks on her door. Hoping he’d leave or think she was asleep, Emilia said nothing.<br/></span>
  <span>“Emilia?” The door creaked a little bit and Emilia moved to shut the bathroom door. As she did so, Evan’s foot stopped her from closing it all the way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve been crying.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia stared at him for a moment before letting go of the door. He pushed the door open and Emilia looked down at the floor.<br/></span>
  <span>“I can't... I can't do this,” she said between heavy breaths. “I can't cope with this, with everything.” Evan stared at her moment and then stepped towards her.<br/></span>
  <span>“I understand,” he said with a small frown. “It's okay to be frustrated and angry, it's okay to feel that, Emilia. It's fine to be sad and upset and annoyed. It's okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His words offered little comfort to her. “I hate it!”<br/></span>
  <span>“I know,” he said softly. “But it’s okay.”<br/></span>
  <span>“How do you know that?” she asked.  “How do you know anything about what this feels like?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I lost my memory in an accident when I was eighteen,” he said. Emilia looked up at him. Was he being serious? Or was he just lying to gain her trust or something like that? If he was being honest, that would have been seven years ago. “I didn’t remember moving in with my aunt when I was ten. I didn’t remember anything about high school or anything for the first few days. After a few days, some of it came back. My accident was a lot worse than yours, at least, that’s what I’ve heard.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was your accident?” she asked quietly. She didn’t know why she was asking, maybe curiosity, maybe the need to feel less alone with whatever was happening.<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t remember,” he said. “Even if I did, it doesn’t really matter, does it?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Why wouldn’t it matter?” If it was similar to hers, she might know much much she’d remember. She could guess, at the very least.<br/></span>
  <span>“It happened a long time ago, a fair few years,” he said with a shrug. It didn’t seem to bother him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did it bother you that you couldn’t remember?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Yes. I got angry a lot,” he said honestly. “But some memories came back and I learned to be okay with that.”<br/></span>
  <span>“What if mine never come back? What if I never remember?” she whispered. The thought of it terrified her. Losing an entire three months, a lot could happen in three months.<br/></span>
  <span>“I’m sure you will.”<br/></span>
  <span>“But you don’t know that.” Emilia frowned, he couldn’t know. She wished he did, it would make things easier.<br/></span>
  <span>“No,” he said, looking away from her. “I don’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It doesn’t matter anyway,” she said with a sigh. “Even if I do remember things, it’s not like I can do anything about them.”<br/></span>
  <span>This time, Evan frowned. “Emilia…”<br/></span>
  <span>“What?” she snapped. “I’m not wrong, am I?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m trying to help you,” he whispered. He sounded sort of defeated.<br/></span>
  <span>“This isn’t helping.”<br/></span>
  <span>“But there isn’t anything else I can do,” he said.<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia frowned. “You could have called an ambulance or the police or something like that.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I promise there’s a reason for it, there is one I just… I can’t tell you. Not right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia didn’t like that answer at all. But she couldn’t really argue with it and didn’t want to risk arguing with it any more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve left some more clothes for you, goodnight.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia just stared at him and took a deep breath in. She really did want to argue with him about it. But he had gotten angry before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Goodnight.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>As Emilia changed out of the pajamas and into the clean clothes, she almost fell and held onto the chest of drawers to keep herself standing. Sighing, Emilia passed it off as stress and headed downstairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan was leaning against the counter, opening some letters. Hearing the creak of the stairs, he turned to look at her.<br/></span>
  <span>“Good morning,” he said before turning to look at his letters. “How are you feeling?”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia stared at him for a second as she walked down the stairs. Another wave of light-headedness hit her. “I don’t know,” she said honestly.</span>
</p><p><span>He frowned at one of the letters before setting it back down.<br/></span><span>“Are you doing anything for breakfast?” she asked quietly.<br/>He shook his head.</span> <span>“Not today. What do you want?”<br/></span><span>“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “Toast or something will do fine.”<br/></span><span>He nodded. “Okay.”</span></p><p>
  <span>As Emilia was finishing her toast, there was a knock on the front door. Evan froze up and stared off for a moment. There was more knocking and he snapped out of his daze.<br/></span>
  <span>“Go upstairs into your room and shut the door.”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia just stared at him for a moment. “What?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Upstairs, into the room and shut the door,” he repeated, sounding a little angrier. Emilia grabbed the toast from the plate and rushed upstairs. She shut the door before setting the plate down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another wave of light-headedness hit her as she turned too quickly. She walked back over to the door and pressed her ear against the crack between the door and the floor. Emilia couldn’t hear much other than a few muffled voices.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mom told me what she was doing the other day, Evan,” she managed to hear. It was the same person as before, Evan’s younger brother. Nathan. “Are you going to tell me what you did the other day?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I didn’t do anything,” was Evan’s reply. Yet again, it seemed devoid of emotion.<br/></span>
  <span>“I know she’s here, that’s what Mom said,” he said. “Why did you have to get in the way? It would have worked if you hadn't gotten involved.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I haven’t done anything,” insisted Evan, his voice getting a little louder. He was getting angry at his brother.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What did his brother know? What did Evan know that he wasn’t telling her? And what did their mother have to do with any of this?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were footsteps.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is she in here?” Nathan’s voice again. He was standing outside of the door. There were more footsteps. “It’s not locked.”<br/></span>
  <span>“You know I don’t like that room.” Evan sounded tense and angry. “Nathan, please, I don’t have Emilia. Why would I have her? I have my own problems, I wouldn’t want to deal with a teenage girl as well.”<br/></span>
  <span>“You should have just let Mom do what she was going to do.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t even know what you’re on about.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Mom told you when she came here and she yelled at you for interfering the day she vanished. I know you know something, Evan. You can tell me, do you have her here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t believe you.”<br/></span>
  <span>“You don’t have to,” said Evan. Now it sounded like he was trying to hide his anger. “Please leave.”<br/></span>
  <span>“What if I don’t want to?” Nathan asked sharply. “What if I open this door and she’s behind it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not opening that door, whether it’s locked or not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was something different about Evan’s voice. Something beyond anger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were footsteps and then a door slamming shut downstairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan had left.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>A few minutes later, the door opened and Emilia stared at Evan. He didn’t say anything to her, he couldn’t even look at her.<br/></span>
  <span>“What do you know that you’re not telling me?” she asked quietly. “About your mother and Nathan?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t know if I should tell you,” he said. He let out a sigh and pulled at some of the curls which were by his eyes.<br/></span>
  <span>“Please, tell me something,” she pleaded, stepping towards him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finally looked her in the eyes but still said nothing. Emilia took deep breaths, the light-headedness started to come back but she had to ignore it, just for a few more minutes. He looked away, down at his arm where the scar was, before looking her in the eye again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My mother wants you dead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia needed to sit down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She leaned against the door frame and she heard his breathing falter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know why, all I can figure is that… you’re like me. My mother was the one yelling at me that I’d ruined everything the other day.”<br/></span>
  <span>“She…” Emilia trailed off. “But… I don’t…”<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t understand either but if I had just called an ambulance or the police… there’s other things going on, other problems and you would have just been released and she would have tried again and… and I panicked and I brought you here. I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was desperation in his voice, mixed with some kind of honesty.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you think this was… this is wrong?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know a lot of things, I don’t even remember half of my life. But I’m sorry, I don’t know what to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia closed her eyes and took deep breaths in a feeble attempt to make herself feel better. She knew the information hadn’t quite set in properly. And she dreaded the moment it would finally sink in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia just nodded as she carried on taking deep breaths.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as he was out of sight, Emilia felt the tears on her cheeks. She slid down to the floor and pulled her legs to her chest. Evan’s mother wanted her dead. Nathan, who was her friend and she couldn’t remember, his mother wanted her dead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What had she ever done to anyone?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t understand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t understand what she had done to anyone. Even if she had done something, she couldn’t remember. What if she had done something? What if she had done something horrible that no one else knew and now not even she knew?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At some point, the tears had stopped falling, mostly because Emilia hadn’t got any tears left to cry. As she stood up, her head felt fuzzy and she grabbed onto the door frame for support. Her heart was beating fast, hitting against her rib cage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Should she call out for help?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The only help she’d get would be Evan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wasn’t sure how long it had taken for it to subside but as soon as it had, she headed to the bathroom to wash her face and then grabbed the plate with the cold, abandoned toast on to take it downstairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As she set the plate down on the kitchen counter, black spots started appearing in her vision. Emilia bit her lip, wishing it would go away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Her chest hurt. Her head hurt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She took a deep breath before opening her eyes. She saw the doorway to the kitchen, though it was more of an arch and there weren’t actually any doors. There were pillows behind her back, propping her up a little.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you awake?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” she whispered with a hoarse voice. “What…?”<br/></span>
  <span>“You fainted,” he said. “After you put the plate on the counter. I picked you up and put you on the couch.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Right…”<br/></span>
  <span>“I got you a bottle of water, if you want it,” he said, offering a smile. Emilia turned her head to look at him.<br/></span>
  <span>“I’ll be fine,” she said, shaking her head a little.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She jumped as Evan’s phone started buzzing. Sighing, Evan looked at his phone. His expression morphed into an emotionless mask.<br/></span>
  <span>“I have to take this,” he muttered as he stood up. “Don’t try to do much, I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan stood up, Emilia realised he had been kneeling next to the couch, and walked into the kitchen. As he answered his phone, he lifted it to his ear. Emilia listened to him. It seemed like a rather normal conversation about how he was doing but he seemed tense. His fingers tapped the kitchen counter as he listened to the other person talk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nathan told you she’s here?” he asked sharply. Emilia had the feeling that she was now the topic of the conversation between Evan and whoever was on the other end of the phone. “She’s not, I don’t know why he’s said that.” Evan turned to look at her. “I know you both think that she’s here and I know you’re mad at me for ruining everything but I haven’t done anything. I can barely look after myself, let alone trying to deal with a teenage girl.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He refrained from sighing and instead closed his eyes and took a deep breath.<br/></span>
  <span>“I have to go now,” he said before pulling his phone away from his ear and hanging up on whoever it was. His hand gripped the edge of the kitchen counter and he stood there for a moment, taking deep breaths.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before walking back into the room and standing next to the couch Emilia was lying on, Evan muttered something to himself.<br/></span>
  <span>“I’m sorry about that.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Who was that?” she asked, wondering if he’d tell her.<br/></span>
  <span>“My mother.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was like her stomach had plummeted downwards. He had just spoken to a woman who wanted her dead. And he had lied to said woman, who was also his mother, about Emilia’s current whereabouts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You lied to her.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Yes, I did,” he said, speaking softly. It was unlike how he had spoken to his mother and to Nathan.<br/></span>
  <span>“About me.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Yes,” he said. He knelt down next to her again. There wasn’t a hint of anger or annoyance in his voice. “I’ve told you, I don’t want her to hurt you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia stared at him for a moment. He really seemed sincere about it and she had just watched him lie to his mother. Slowly, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her ribs ached as she sat up but there wasn’t any light-headedness.<br/></span>
  <span>“Are you alright?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I think so.” Emilia nodded a little.<br/></span>
  <span>“That’s good,” he said, nodding. It seemed like he was nodding more to himself than anything else. “Just… try not to do anything too…”<br/></span>
  <span>“Strenuous?” said Emilia. She could remember being told not to do anything too strenuous too often.<br/></span>
  <span>Evan nodded. “Yeah. That one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They just looked at each other and it was silent for a moment before Emilia decided to speak again.<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t have any of my medication,” she said, looking away from him.<br/></span>
  <span>Evan sighed. “I don’t know how to help with that, I’m sorry.” Emilia squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. She didn’t know how she was going to cope without it. She didn’t expect him to be able to help so why did she feel disappointed that he couldn’t. “Do you feel better, though?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Well, I don’t feel like I’m about to pass out again.”<br/></span>
  <span>Evan nodded. “Just… yeah, take it easy.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I will.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan stood up and headed to the kitchen. The plate Emilia had brought down was on the side. Emilia watched him pick it up as she turned and put her feet on the floor. She stood up and slowly walked towards the kitchen. Evan’s finger was rubbing the edge of the plate and as she stood next to him, she understood why. It was chipped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. He flinched and turned to look at her.<br/></span>
  <span>He shook his head. “It’s fine, I’ve broken a lot of plates. I can probably still use it, I just can’t serve my mother or Nathan anything on it.” She figured that was because they would complain.<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia hummed. “But still…”<br/></span>
  <span>“It was an accident, you didn’t mean it,” Evan said, maybe a little too quickly. Was it because she had startled him?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you have to work today?” asked Emilia. Evan turned to look at her again and she could see him thinking.<br/></span>
  <span>“No, I don’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia nodded to herself and glanced away. Her eyes fixed on the plate which was still in his hands; she didn’t mean to break it. Internally, she was debating whether or not to ask him if she could go outside. She had struggled yesterday with being inside and watching the outside world through a window.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re thinking,” he said. Her eyebrows raised as she looked back at him. and he smiled a little. “You look away when you’re thinking.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I do it when I’m anxious too,” she said, thinking back to her aunt. Her chest felt heavy as she looked up at him. “I just… I can’t deal with being inside all day.”<br/></span>
  <span>He looked down, there was a small frown on his lips. “I know it’s difficult, but you tried to run away.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because you’re keeping me here,” she said, trying not to lash out at him and make him angry. “I won’t try to run away if you let me outside. You can stay with me and make sure or something. I just… I can’t deal with it.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I need to think.” He took a step back and put the plate in the sink. “I need to think about it.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Okay.” She nodded. “I’m going to go and read.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The tv just droned on in the background as they ate. Neither of them spoke to each other. She would have described everything as awkward but Emilia had the feeling that it would be worse if one of them had tried to speak to the other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He took her plate to the kitchen when she was done with the food. She sat on the couch, as patiently as she could. Her eyes drifted to the window, the car hadn’t moved. It would probably be hot inside of the car, the sun was shining on it and it was a black car.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you had to hold my hand, would you still want to go outside?” she heard. Looking away from the window and to Evan, she slowly nodded. Emilia knew it was so she couldn’t run away and with her heart, she wasn’t sure if she was in a state to run away. Especially since she had no idea where she was. If she had moved in with her aunt, she was at least several hours away from home. “And barefoot?”<br/></span>
  <span>She nodded again, quicker this time. “I don’t mind.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia didn’t care how eager she sounded as she followed Evan to the back door like a little puppy waiting to be let out. He unlocked the door and held her hand. Her hands were tiny compared to his but his hands were cold. Opening the door, he let Emilia walk out first. He followed, holding her hand firmly in his own. In Emilia’s opinion, his hand was holding hers a little too tightly but it was an opinion she would never voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The breeze was warm, despite them standing in the patchy shade of the trees around them. The grey stones beneath her feet were cracked and mossy and cold. Their rough surface scraped across her skin as she took another step forward. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and inhaled the fresh air. It was a relief to be outside again, to feel the gentle wind and warm sun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She turned to look at Evan, he was smiling at her. She smiled back.<br/></span>
  <span>“Thank you,” she said quietly. He just nodded and let her bask in the golden rays of the setting sun. Emilia wasn’t sure how long she had stood there for and she didn’t care. The tiny taste of freedom was enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, Evan stepped back and led her back inside. She didn’t protest or make a fuss, knowing that she might get to spend another few minutes in the sun the day after, if she behaved and didn’t try to escape. Emilia felt a little like a pet, waiting to be fed, waiting to be let outside for a while. She hated it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would I be able to go outside tomorrow?” she asked as he let go of her hand to shut and lock the back door.<br/></span>
  <span>“We’ll see,” he said. “As long as you don’t do anything stupid then… I don’t see why not.”<br/></span>
  <span>She smiled at him again as she rubbed her arms in a rather futile attempt to get rid of the goosebumps that had appeared. “Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia smiled to herself as she stared up at the ceiling. He hadn’t been angry at her today. In fact, he had lied to his own family to protect her several times. He had lied to his brother which didn’t surprise her. But he had lied to his own mother.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Those thoughts made it difficult for her to sleep for some reason. Sighing, she stood up and turned the light on. Squinting at its brightness, she headed over to the draws and started pulling them open. She was curious about what was in them, she hadn’t opened them yet and she hadn’t seen Evan open them. Pulling open the top draw, she found nothing. It was just empty. It was weird but somehow she wasn’t too surprised. The middle draw had some of what looked like his sister’s belongings, photographs, an old camera. There were a few cracked phones in there and what looked like an old school shirt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At first glance, the last draw was fairly boring. It just looked like paperwork. But, as Emilia pulled some of it out and sifted through it, she quickly discovered it was school work. Evan’s school work. There were some letters addressed to someone called Chelsea who she could only assume was his aunt. His address was on them. She tried to memorise it but she couldn’t really remember it. Still, now she knew where she could find the address of the house she was currently in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan’s handwriting was relatively neat. It was all joined together and fancy. A little envious of his penmanship, Emilia carried on sorting through it. She reached a letter that was addressed to his mother instead. It had a different address on it and she wondered why Evan had it. Reading through it, it detailed Evan’s incident at school, what was done about it. Apparently, a girl called Amy was a lot of help.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slowly, she set that down and stared at it for a minute. That was why he had lost so many years of his memory. No one even knew exactly what had happened to him, not even his teachers and the staff at the school. In the draw, she spotted what looked like some more of Evan’s work. Except, the handwriting was different. It was shakier and the ink bled through the pages more. The letters were very rarely joined up too. Emilia realised that this must have been after the accident he had.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A lot of thoughts ran through her head as she tried to make sense of everything. Maybe he had put them in here just because he didn’t want to throw them away. But as much as she wanted that to be the case, because it was simple, there was a kind of nagging feeling that it wasn’t just that. The lock had been on the door for a while, according to Evan, and he apparently hadn’t planned on bringing her here. And from the letters, this house used to belong to his aunt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before she could think about it for any longer, Emilia put all of the papers back into the draw and shut it. She sat there for a while. She needed to sleep, she couldn’t afford to sit up all night thinking about it. She needed to sleep.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The bedroom door was unlocked and ajar when she woke in the morning. She changed into clothes before heading downstairs. Emilia wondered whether she should ask Evan about his school work and bring it up. She had the feeling that bringing up the letter wouldn’t be a good idea but not telling him that she knew about his accident might end up upsetting him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The back door was open when she walked into the kitchen. Evan walked in and shut the door behind him.<br/></span>
  <span>“You’re awake,” he said. “Morning.” Emilia just nodded in response. She looked away from him, at the kitchen. There weren’t any signs that he’d cooked any breakfast, not that she was expecting any with how clean things were in the house.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you thinking about?” he asked as he walked towards her. Did she tell him?<br/></span>
  <span>“I couldn’t sleep last night and I found some things in the draws in the room,” she said. Looking at him, she watched him take a deep breath. “They were your things, your school work and some letters.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Did you read the letter?” he asked quietly. He didn’t have to ask which one. Emilia nodded. “So you know what they think happened?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Yeah, I do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan bit his lip and walked over to the counter. He glanced down at his arm before looking at her.<br/></span>
  <span>“They don’t know what happened,” he said. “No one does. They don’t know if it was the school’s fault, if someone pushed me or anything.”<br/></span>
  <span>“It said a girl called Amy helped you,” she said. Evan smiled when she said the girl’s name.<br/></span>
  <span>“She’s my friend,” he said. “My only friend but she’s a good friend. She… she helped me. I used to wait outside of her Geography class, she had Geography when I had music with Mr Miranda and he used to let us out early.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia walked over to the counter and jumped up onto it. Evan smiled at her a little. He didn’t tell her to get off of the counter.<br/></span>
  <span>“One day, I wasn’t waiting for her and I always waited for her and she knew I was in so there was no reason for me to not wait for her. She figured that I was still in music but… as she was trying to get to my music class, the corridors were blocked by all of the students,” he carried on explaining. His hand moved to grab his arm, covering where the scar would have been under his sleeve.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She told me that she had a bad feeling about it all and that while she wanted to believe that I was just stuck in the crowds of high schoolers, she had the feeling I wasn’t,” he carried on speaking. Emilia listened, it was very different hearing him recount his friend’s experience. The letter didn’t mention all of the students in the corridor or what Amy felt about it all. “She got to the stairs and the teachers tried to stop her from going down them but she pushed past them and I was on the stairs. On the bottom flight of stairs.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The music classroom is right at the top though,” she said. Her brow creased and she stared at the counter as she thought. Evan nodded. “If you were going to go to her class, how did you end up…” she trailed off as she saw Evan shrug.<br/></span>
  <span>“No one knows, there weren’t any cameras in the stairways.” He looked down and closed his eyes for a moment. “I was bleeding out. You always bleed a lot from head injuries. Amy saw it and screamed at them, she kept yelling things at them, called them stupid and incompetent and used a fair few swear words. They always leave out the part where she used her scarf to stop the bleeding.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia’s jaw fell slack. “Why wasn’t there a first aider?”<br/></span>
  <span>He shook his head. “I don’t know, she yelled at them to get a first aider, they had called an ambulance though. But… it’s a rural area, it took a while.” Emilia couldn’t believe they couldn’t get a first aid trained teacher to him. There was usually a few first aiders in schools or there was a school nurse or something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened then?” asked Emilia. There was a twinge of pain in her chest but she was curious and pushed it out of her mind as best as she could.<br/></span>
  <span>“It took two weeks for me to wake up properly and have some sort of idea about what was going on. After a few days, they realised I wasn’t remembering things. And they did tests and stuff but… it didn't all come back.”<br/></span>
  <span>“How much do you remember?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Not much at all, I sort of remember my aunt during those eight years, and a bit of Amy and Nathan and Olivia but… not much else.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” she said. She couldn’t think of anything else to say and as weird and as strange as he was, it was a horrible thing to go through. And his friend… she had to deal with it too.<br/></span>
  <span>“It’s not your fault,” he said, his voice was barely above a whisper. “I was… I was seventeen, it was a long time ago now. And while it… while I still struggle with it and my nerves are sort of screwed, I don’t have seizures any more and the headaches aren’t so bad.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia wasn’t sure what to say and she doubted she’d be able to put the mixed feelings she had into words. The accident definitely put things into perspective. He more than likely had impaired judgement too, maybe that was why he didn’t call the police.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both of them froze as they heard the back door being opened. Emilia stared at the door and watched as a curly haired teen walked in. His curls were darker in colour and not as defined as Evan’s. He talked as he shut the door, clearly he hadn’t noticed her yet. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Evan was looking at her, not the boy who had just walked into his house.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was Nathan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mom’s sent me round, I can’t believe you didn’t hear me knocking on the front door, it’s good that your back door was…” Nathan trailed off as he looked up from his phone and realised who was sitting in the kitchen. “...open.” Slowly, he walked over to the counter she was sitting on. Evan turned to look at his brother’s shocked expression.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emilia?”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She stared back at him, hoping something would come to mind other than his name. She could only think of his name because she recognised the voice and Evan had said he was called Nathan.</p><p>“You fucking liar,” hissed Nathan as he turned to his brother. “I knew it.”<br/>“Nathan…”<br/>He turned back to Emilia. “What has he done to you?” Emilia blinked, not sure how to respond. “Emilia, I’m your friend, you can tell me if he’s done anything, he can’t hurt you. He’s not really my brother.” Nathan sounded sort of aggressive, there was a sort of anger behind his words.</p><p>Evan could hurt her. If he really wanted to, he could. She didn’t want to make him angry. And so could Nathan. Nathan knew about what their mother was doing. In fact, thinking about it, it had sounded like Nathan had wanted his mother to succeed.</p><p>“I don’t know you,” she whispered. Nathan’s aggression seemed to melt away and his shoulders slumped.<br/>“What do you mean?” he asked with a furrowed brow.<br/>“The last date she can remember is January 17th,” said Evan, looking down and closing his eyes.<br/>“I didn’t ask you,” spat Nathan. Why was he so angry at Evan? Because Evan lied. That was why.</p><p>Nathan ran his hand through his hair and nodded to himself.<br/>“You lied to me,” he said. “You lied to me and to Mom, we’re family and you just lied to us. Why are you trying to protect her? She’s...” Nathan looked back at Emilia and seemed to realise something.</p><p>Emilia had also realised something. Even though Evan had said that his brother was her friend, he was not. He cared more about his mother’s plan by the sound of it and that plan was to kill her.</p><p>“She’s like you.”</p><p>Nathan said it with a disgusted expression, as if the mere thought of it put a bad taste in his mouth.</p><p>“Only because she hit her with a car,” said Evan. “That’s why she can’t remember anything. She’d remember you if she hadn't been hit with a car.”<br/>“And you’re saying it’s Mom’s fault now?” Nathan seemed more offended that his mother was being insulted.<br/>“Well you mentioned Mr Miranda telling her that she reminded him of me. And then she started saying all of these things and I overheard them at dinner and she decided to do that.”</p><p>“She said it was for the best!” yelled Nathan. “Mom always knows what’s best.” Emilia pulled her legs to her chest and hugged them. Her chest was starting to hurt.<br/>“Are you just going to trust that?” asked Evan, there was anger in his voice again. Emilia closed her eyes. “She decided it was for the best that I stayed here with Aunt and you saw how that went.”<br/>“Yeah, you fell down some stairs and fucked yourself up and Aunt Chelsea ran off not long after. What did you do to her?” Emilia wished they’d stop arguing, they were loud and her chest hurt. Her heart was beating too quickly.</p><p>“I didn’t do anything.” Emilia opened her eyes again and looked at Evan. The emotions had gone, all of the anger had vanished.<br/>“Are you lying about that?”<br/>“Nathan, I know family means a lot to you, but Mom-”<br/>“What? I really don’t see what’s wrong here other than you,” he said sharply. “You’re not even my brother, just my half brother.”</p><p>Evan physically recoiled from his words, taking a step away from his brother. His half brother.</p><p>“Please, stop.”</p><p>The two of them looked at her. “Just stop yelling and arguing, please.” Emilia looked at Nathan and then to Evan. “Please, just stop.” Her chest hurt, her heart was still beating too quickly and she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t tell if it was her heart problem or an anxiety attack or both. She couldn’t stand sitting here. She couldn’t deal with it. Emilia pushed herself off of the kitchen counter and landed on her feet. Standing up had made it worse, now she felt light-headed too. Slowly, she sat down on the floor.</p><p>“Leave.”<br/>“No,” said Nathan, shaking his head as he unlocked his phone. “I’m calling Mom.”<br/>“Leave now or I’ll make you leave.”<br/>“You wouldn’t hurt me,” said Nathan. Both of them were oblivious to Emilia.<br/>“Why wouldn’t I?” asked Evan. “You’re just my half-brother. And Mom’s going to know whether you call her here or call her walking home so just leave.”</p><p>Nathan looked as though he was going to protest but as he looked at Evan and their eyes met, he decided against it. He left quickly. Both of them flinched at the noise of the door slamming shut.</p><p>“Emilia…” he started, stepping towards her. “I’m sorry.”<br/>“My chest hurts,” she whispered. “I… I…” He gently shushed her as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him so she was sitting on his lap. Closing her eyes, she rested her head against his chest. Part of her wanted to scream and cry but she didn’t have the energy to.<br/>“Hey, you're going to be okay,” he said softly. “Just match my breathing, it's just an anxiety attack. Everything will be fine.”</p><p>Emilia tried to do so but she struggled.<br/>“My chest hurts,” she whispered. “My heart…”<br/>“Just breathe,” he said, speaking softly again. He moved her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “You are going to be fine. I don’t know why Nathan’s doing any of this, if anything, it should have stayed between me and her. He didn’t… he doesn’t need to get involved. But he can’t hurt you. And neither can my mother. Neither of them can hurt you.”</p><p>And somehow, Emilia could believe him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Once the anxiety attack had passed, Evan let her head upstairs to lie down. He had seemed upset after the argument with Nathan. Emilia wasn’t sure how to feel about everything. Nathan was supposed to be her friend and yet…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia must have drifted off. When she opened her eyes, she just stared up at the ceiling as she tended to do. It wasn't the next morning, it couldn’t have been. It had to be the same day still.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan had been there earlier. He was very loyal to his mother but not to Evan. All because Evan was his half-brother and wasn’t exactly all there. She knew there was a reason Nathan had corrected her on Evan being his half-brother when they were talking a few weeks ago.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few weeks ago.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She remembered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her body shook as she stood up and tried to find Evan. Her chest still felt a little weird and she didn’t know why she felt as though she had to tell him but she was going to tell him anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She found him in the living room opposite his office at the front of the house. He heard her walk towards him and looked away from his phone.<br/></span>
  <span>“I remember.”<br/></span>
  <span>His eyes widened and there was a smile on his face. “You do?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I remember Nathan. I was talking to him about siblings, he wanted to know if I had any,” she said. Then she spoke slower. “I’d had this ring from my mom, Nathan wanted to look at it so I let him and he dropped it down the side of the road.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan’s smile faded. He knew what she was going to say.<br/></span>
  <span>“Why were you there at the side of the road? Both times you were there,” she said. “Why were you there?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I…” He took a deep breath. “I just happened to be walking the first time, the second time I knew what she was planning to do to you and I wanted to make sure you were okay, if I could. I wanted to help you.”<br/></span>
  <span>“You were following me?” she asked quietly. He bit his lip and nodded. “So you’re a stalker too?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I… I just wanted to make sure you were safe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why can’t you see that its wrong?” she asked, her voice wavered, it sounded like she was going to cry. She felt like crying. “Why didn’t you call an ambulance?”<br/></span>
  <span>“The police would have gotten involved.”<br/></span>
  <span>“And why would that have been a bad thing?”<br/></span>
  <span>“They would have asked questions,” he said, frowning. “About the car and why it didn’t stop and why I was there so quickly.”<br/></span>
  <span>“That’s why?” she asked. “Because you were following me?”<br/></span>
  <span>“There’s things I can’t explain,” he said vaguely.<br/></span>
  <span>“Can’t or won’t?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Won’t,” he said honestly. Emilia took a step back, a step away from him. She doubted she wanted to know the reason behind Evan not calling the police then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What else was there to explain?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia had the feeling that she wouldn’t like the answer to that question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My mother could be dead,” she said quietly. She looked down at her hands, at the finger that the ring fit on. She had no idea where that was; she couldn’t remember if she had left it at home or if she had taken it to school with her that day. “She sent me to live with my Aunt Kat because she didn’t want me to see her dying. She gave me the ring Nathan dropped and I… I don’t know what I’ve done with it. My mother could be dead and I’m stuck here with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan looked away as Emilia wiped her eyes with the back of her palm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want to go home.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But home was several hours away by train and she had no idea how she’d even get home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, I can’t let you go home.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>She hated that she had to eat in the living room with him. Emilia hated every moment of it. It was suffocating, being trapped inside, being trapped with him, because of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened to your aunt?” she asked quietly. “Nathan said she had run off. Her name was Chelsea, right? There were letters upstairs addressed to her.”<br/></span>
  <span>“It doesn’t matter,” he said, shaking his head. Evan stood and headed into the kitchen. Emilia followed. He set his plate down on the counter and she did the same thing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia knew she should have left it at that but she grabbed his arm and pulled his sleeve up. “That wasn’t from your accident.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Please let go of my arm,” he whispered, closing his eyes. Emilia kept hold of it, it wasn’t like he couldn’t pull it free.<br/></span>
  <span>“Was it your mother?” she asked. It wouldn’t surprise her considering his mother was trying to murder her.<br/></span>
  <span>“Let go of my arm,” he said again. Emilia didn’t. Evan ripped his arm away and pulled his sleeve back down, covering the scar. He tensed and stared at her with anger in his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As much as she knew it would be a bad idea, she stared at him.<br/></span>
  <span>“Did your aunt run off, like Nathan said she did?”<br/></span>
  <span>“It doesn’t matter, does it?” His voice was on the verge of breaking and his hand gripped his arm tightly, covering the scar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think she ran off.” Emilia shook her head slightly. There was something else, she could feel it. “You didn’t answer me and you didn’t answer Nathan and you said there was another reason you wouldn’t call the police, one you wouldn’t tell me. Your mother already wants to kill me and your brother seems to be just fine with it too. You’ve stalked me and kidnapped me, how much worse could it really be?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seeing the look in Evan’s eyes, she regretted that question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You want to know? Fine,” he said, raising his voice. She’d made him angry. “I killed my aunt.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia could feel herself shaking, she didn’t know what she had expected him to say.<br/></span>
  <span>“Are you happy with that answer?” he asked bitterly. “I killed my aunt. She was the one who gave me the scar on my arm as well as a few others.”<br/></span>
  <span>She stumbled backwards, her chest twinged with pain. “You’re a murderer.”<br/></span>
  <span>He nodded. “Yes, I… Yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia wished she had never asked, why couldn’t she have just stayed oblivious to it?<br/></span>
  <span>“But… she was your aunt,” she stuttered. She couldn’t imagine hurting her aunt on purpose let alone what he had done. “Why?”<br/></span>
  <span>“She hurt me,” Evan said quietly. His anger morphed into sadness. “She hurt me, I... “<br/></span>
  <span>“She was abusive?” she asked. Hesitantly, Evan nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She tried to do something else, she was drunk and I…” He trailed off and looked at Emilia. He looked and sounded like a scared child but all Emilia could think was that he murdered his abusive aunt. “Amy told me if someone were to do something and I didn’t like it, I can tell them to stop. And if they don’t, I can try to escape and get help and push them off me or something.”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia realised that this wasn’t the abuse he had been used to from his aunt, it was worse. A lot worse by the sounds of it. “I… I don’t-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told her to stop,” he said, interrupting Emilia. He finally let go of his arm to wipe his left eye with his hand. He looked away from her and his eyes fixated on the counter by the stairs. “She didn’t listen and I kept telling her and then I got angry. I got angry and hit her, she did something, I… I think I hit her again. She told me to call an ambulance, she was bleeding, but I was angry, I was so angry at her for all that she’d done, and I didn’t even remember it all. She fell, I’d pushed her off me again and she hit her head off the counter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia stared at him for a moment. “Did it kill her?”<br/></span>
  <span>Evan shrugged. “Head injuries bleed a lot.” That didn’t answer her question at all. “I called Amy, told her what my aunt tried to do to me and she offered to call the police. I… I told her not to, told her it was fine because she was gone. She thought I meant that my aunt had left the house and I just… went along with it. I didn’t call an ambulance. I left her there, I don’t know how long for but she was cold when I tried to check for a pulse.”<br/></span>
  <span>“She doesn’t know?” asked Emilia. He had lied to his only friend.<br/></span>
  <span>Evan shook his head. “Just us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t mean to,” he said softly. “I was scared. I just wanted her to stop.” Emilia felt sick. Her stomach was twisting and turning and her chest ached. Not knowing what else to do, she turned and sprinted upstairs to the room. He called after her but she ignored him, shutting the room’s door behind her, not caring if he’d lock her in. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him. Heading to the bathroom, she knelt next to the toilet but she didn’t throw up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why couldn’t she have just stayed quiet?</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>With a rumbling stomach, Emilia headed to the door of her room. She turned the door handle and pulled but it wouldn’t open. He’d locked her in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia didn’t know what she had been expecting. He had been nicer to her. But she had pestered him into admitting he was a murderer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She stayed in the room for several days, Evan only opened the door to give her food and bottled water. When he gave her the food, he took the empty plate and cutlery from before away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wished she had never asked. She’d have no way of escaping, no way of going outside again any time soon. It had been easy to keep track of the days at first, because of what food he had been giving her, and from that she could figure what time it was. She counted the days by keeping a tally on one of the letters, she had found an old pen on the desk. But then she started forgetting if she had made a mark for that day or not.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eleven days had passed before she had lost count. Emilia knew a few days had passed then. She’d been in the same room for two weeks, doing almost nothing. She’d stopped trying to get him to let her out, banging on the door and walls with her hands only hurt her hands, it didn’t achieve anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, one of the mornings - she assumed it was a morning - the door was open. With the mild anxiety that it was a trap, Emilia changed in the bathroom with the door closed while leaving the door from the bedroom to the hallway open. Carefully, she headed downstairs and froze on the stairs as she saw Evan making toast.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re awake.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Clearly,” she said, internally regretting her choice of response as soon as the word left her lips. She could have said something less sarcastic, she could have said nothing at all.<br/></span>
  <span>“You stopped hitting the walls and the doors,” he said as he put butter on the toast.<br/></span>
  <span>“I gave up hitting them, you weren’t doing anything.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I was… I was upset and you were angry and scared and I didn’t want anything to happen,” he said as he cut the two slices of toast in half. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia carried on walking to the bottom of the stairs.<br/></span>
  <span>“Are you angry now?” she asked.<br/></span>
  <span>He shook his head. “I wasn’t too angry with you,” he said as he put the toast onto a plate. “I was more upset but I was still a little angry and you were scared and angry and people do stupid things when they’re scared and angry and upset.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Yeah,” she said quietly, just nodding.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan looked at her for a moment before pushing the plate along the counter. It stopped in front of her, not too far away from the edge.<br/>“This is for me?”<br/></span>
  <span>He nodded. “Unless you don’t want it?”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia shook her head as she picked up the toast. “I mean, I want it, thank you.” He just nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After eating a bite of it, she nervously looked at him again. He was making more toast, presumably for himself.<br/></span>
  <span>“How long was I in that room for?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Seventeen days.” Her eyes widened. That was six more days than she had counted. Emilia looked down at the toast in her hand and took another bite of it; she didn’t have much else to say. The only thing she had to say had a chance of angering him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re looking away from me,” he said. “What are you thinking about?”<br/></span>
  <span>She forgot he had noticed when she was thinking. “You didn’t mean to, did you?” she asked quietly.<br/></span>
  <span>He shook his head. “I didn’t.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Do you regret it?” she asked. Even though Emilia asked, she wasn’t sure if she wanted the answer.<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t think I do. She can’t hurt me or anyone else now. Before you ask, I don’t want to kill anyone again.”<br/></span>
  <span>“You don’t?”<br/></span>
  <span>“No” he said, quickly shaking his head. “I… I couldn’t.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Emilia sat on the counter in the kitchen, staring out of the window, while Evan cooked them food for dinner. Looking over at him, Emilia watched as he clenched and unclenched his fist.<br/></span>
  <span>“What are you doing?”<br/></span>
  <span>“It’s nothing,” he said dismissively, shaking his head. Clearly, it wasn’t nothing. “It’s just pins and needles.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Pins and needles?” she repeated. Emilia hadn’t seen him lying on it or anything like that.<br/></span>
  <span>“I just get it sometimes,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Side effect of the…” she trailed off, “the accident?”<br/></span>
  <span>He nodded. “Yes, it’s nerve damage, caused by some brain damage, I think.”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia just nodded. It did seem like his brain was a bit screwed, to say the least. “Mine wasn’t bad enough to cause brain damage, was it?”<br/></span>
  <span>“No, I don’t think so,” said Evan as he turned back to his cooking. “But I’m not a doctor, you’d have to go to a hospital and see a doctor to know that.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I can’t though,” she said quietly. It was an unsettling thought, that something could be wrong with her brain and she wouldn’t know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How long would I have to stay here?” she asked. “I can’t just stay here forever, can I?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t know,” said Evan. “She isn’t going to stop trying to hurt you. She keeps calling me, telling me she’s coming over. So while you were in your room, I headed over to Amy’s a few times. She can’t be mad at me for that because Amy’s pregnant.”<br/></span>
  <span>“What if… what if one of us gets hurt, badly hurt?” she asked.<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t know,” he said honestly. He shrugged. “I hope that doesn’t happen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia just nodded. He had no idea what he was doing or what he was going to do if one of them got hurt. That was a little worrying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want to go home,” she said softly, hugging her knees to her chest.<br/></span>
  <span>“I know,” said Evan. He glanced at her before returning to his cooking. “I wish I could let you go home. But that would end with me in jail and I… I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if she hurt you.”<br/></span>
  <span>“If I stay here for long enough, you’ll hurt me,” said Emilia. More than he already had, at least. She was already scared of him and she had been locked in the same room for seventeen days with nothing to do. “At least, I’m scared you’ll get angry at me and that might lead to you hurting me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan stopped and turned to look at her, a frown on his face.<br/></span>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” he said. It seemed like he was being honest. But he had lied to Nathan and his mother, what was stopping him from lying to her? “I don’t want to hurt you, I don’t mean to.”<br/></span>
  <span>“You keep saying that.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Because I mean it,” said Evan without hesitating. Emilia just nodded before resting her head between her knees. There was an odd sort of numbness and a general heavy feeling in her chest and stomach.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I figured you could go outside later,” he said as he grabbed two plates from the cupboard. Emilia couldn’t deny how nice it smelt and her stomach rumbled. “After dinner, before it gets dark.”<br/></span>
  <span>She lifted her head to look at him, he hadn’t turned back to look at her. “Really?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Yeah,” he said while putting the food onto plates. “Yeah, if you want.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Yes,” she said. “Thank you.”</span>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dinner is ready now.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>She had been glad to leave the tiny room with no windows, now Emilia was grateful to be outside. It was windier and she could smell the damp ground and wet leaves. It smelt fresh. She closed her eyes for a moment and just let herself breathe. A few droplets of water landed on her skin; it was starting to rain. That meant it was time to go back inside again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once they were back inside, Emilia felt a weight in her chest. It didn’t quite feel like her usual chest pain. She wasn’t sure what it was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She watched as he locked the back door and Emilia looked down.<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t want to sleep in that room,” she said quietly. “I don’t want to go back to it, not… not today.”<br/></span>
  <span>Evan sighed as he bit his lip. “I understand,” he said. He said nothing for a moment and Emilia figured that she’d probably end up sleeping in that room anyway. “You could sleep on the couch? The only other bedrooms are my room and Olivia’s room and she doesn’t like other people sleeping in there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Olivia’s room?” asked Emilia. His sister had her own room in his house?<br/></span>
  <span>“Liv used to stay over every other weekend. Mom didn’t like it and tried to stop her staying over but she just sneaked out and came over anyway so she just gave up trying to stop her in the end,” he explained. “She likes to get away from Mom.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I can’t blame her,” said Emilia. Their mother was crazy, she didn’t want to imagine what it would be like to live with her.<br/></span>
  <span>“I mean, obviously Mom’s stopped her from coming over now. I’m surprised she hasn’t sneaked over, if I’m being honest.” Evan frowned, it seemed like he missed his sister.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She has some movies, I have some too, you could watch some of those in the living room?” he suggested. “I don’t really know if I’m being honest but I… I get how you’re feeling.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Watching movies sounds great,” Emilia said honestly. She literally hadn’t watched one in a month or more and she needed the escape of getting lost in a movie.<br/></span>
  <span>“I’ll go and see what movies she has and set up the dvd player and stuff,” said Evan. He had a small smile on his face as he nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia soon discovered that Olivia was a John Green fan as she had the two movies of his books and according to Evan, she loved his books. There was a few Disney and Pixar movies. Emilia ended up picking one of those to watch first.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Groaning, Emilie woke up curled up on the couch with a fleece blanket wrapped around her. The sunlight was shining through the window. The chocolate wrappers that she had left on the table - Evan had let her have snacks - were no longer there and the tv was off. She figured she had probably fallen asleep while they had been watching one of the movies. Sitting up, Emilia rubbed her neck, it was stiff and sore from being awkwardly curled up on the couch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Standing up, Emilia wandered into the kitchen, Evan wasn’t there, or in the other living room. Humming, Emilia wandered back to the living room and wrapped herself in the blanket as she sat down for a moment. Looking at the clock, she realised it was past midday.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, she heard Evan’s voice. It sounded like he was in the other room, the one across from the living room where he worked. Emilia figured he probably had some sort of home office in there, probably a desk with a computer or a laptop. She struggled to imagine Evan working.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sighing, Emilia stood up again, she didn’t want to knock on the door and interrupt whatever phone call he was having. Standing outside the closed door with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a cape, she stared at it. It was probably for the best that she didn’t disturb him. Looking to her right, she saw the front door. Out of curiosity, she reached out and turned the door handle. Gently, she pulled on it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It opened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia’s eyes widened, did she shut it? Last time she tried to leave, he had stopped her and gotten angry. But Evan was distracted with the phone call…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She held the blanket tightly with her left hand as she carefully opened the door with her right, willing it to not squeak or creak. She opened it enough for her to squeeze out and the blanket fell from around her shoulders as she left the house.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Her legs burned as she ran, her chest was starting to ache, she probably shouldn’t be running. Looking down, she made sure there wasn’t anything she could trip over as she carried on running. The driveway carried on for a lot longer than she thought it would. Slowing down, she glanced behind her. Evan wasn’t following and she could barely see the house through the trees. She groaned a little as she felt her heart skip a beat. She needed to sit down but she needed to keep moving.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking back towards the driveway and away from the house, Emilia saw Nathan running towards her and her stomach dropped. Where was she going to run now? Could she run into the forest? Feeling her heart hitting against her ribs, Emilia realised she wouldn’t be running anywhere.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emilia!” exclaimed Nathan as he slowed in front of her. He grabbed her wrist. “What are you doing?”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia tried to pull her wrist out of his hand. “Let me go.”<br/></span>
  <span>“You’re trying to run away,” said Nathan, gripping her wrist tighter.<br/></span>
  <span>“Nathan, you’re hurting me,” she hissed, still trying to pull her arm free. “Nathan, please.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were footsteps behind her. Evan. She didn’t know who she would rather deal with.<br/></span>
  <span>“Nathan, let go of her,” he said.<br/></span>
  <span>“She was trying to run away,” he said coldly, staring into Emilia’s eyes. She shivered, this wasn’t who she had made friends with, they were nothing alike.<br/></span>
  <span>“I know,” he said. “Now let her go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His hand rested on her shoulder, a reminder not to run. Reluctantly, Nathan let go of her wrist and Emilia pulled it to her chest, her other hand rubbing where Nathan had grabbed her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Leave.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t want to,” said Nathan, lifting his head a little higher to look at his brother. “Emilia is my friend.”<br/></span>
  <span>“No, you’re not,” spat Emilia. She wanted to hit him, how could he think that they were friends?<br/></span>
  <span>“I know you don’t remember-”<br/></span>
  <span>“Yes, I do,” she said, interrupting him. His eyes widened. “I thought you were my friend but now you think it’s fine to let your mom murder me because I’m like your brother?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan stared at her for a moment before taking a step back. “I’m going.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Are you going to tell her?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Mom? Am I going to tell Mom?” he asked Evan. “Of course I am, I need to talk to her about some things.” He said it as if telling their mother was the obvious thing to do.<br/></span>
  <span>“What did you even come here for?” asked Evan with a sigh. His hand was still on her shoulder.<br/></span>
  <span>“It doesn’t really matter now, does it?” Nathan turned and started to walk off.<br/></span>
  <span>“Nathan!” Evan yelled after him. His hand left her shoulder as he stepped forwards, following Nathan a little. “Nathan!” Nathan didn’t turn around.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan was angry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Feeling her heart skip another beat, Emilia whimpered. Her legs felt weak. Did she try to tell him? He was angry. She didn’t want to make him even angrier. She put her hand on her chest, it hurt, her heart was beating too fast. She needed help.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Evan,” she whispered, closing her eyes for a moment. “Help me, my chest hurts.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Anxiety attack?”<br/></span>
  <span>She shook her head and instantly regretted it as she felt light headed. “Heart, too fast. It… it skipped.”<br/></span>
  <span>Evan stuttered and bit his lip as he thought. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see Nathan walking off. Sighing, he picked her up bridal style instead of over shoulder like he had done before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He carefully carried her back to the house, through the front door, which was already open, and then upstairs. Walking past the room with the lock on the door, he turned the corner and took her to a bigger room, one with no lock on the door. It seemed like it was the master bedroom, Evan’s room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why was she in his room?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gently, he set her down on the bed, near the middle. He ran his fingers through the curls of his brown hair as he stared down at her. What was he going to do?<br/></span>
  <span>“I’m going to get your medication,” he said. “Please, don’t try anything, please don’t hurt yourself.”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia weakly nodded her head, she didn’t want to try to do anything, she was too scared she’d pass out again. “I’m not going to.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Okay,” he said, nodding. “I’ll be back soon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan left rather quickly, he didn’t bother shutting the bedroom door. His footsteps on the stairs were loud and quick. The front door shut loudly too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia stared up at the ceiling, hoping he wouldn’t take too long. She had no idea how long he would take but she desperately hoped he would be back soon. Her eyes started to flicker shut but she managed to keep them open. She couldn’t afford to close them, sleeping was a scary thought to her. Her hand rested on her chest as she waited, her chest was throbbing, it hurt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wondered if he had bothered locking the front door. Though she wished she could leave, Emilia was in no condition to get up and go to her Aunt Kat’s house. She’d get there soon. If Evan got her medication for her, she’d be feeling better and she’d have more of a chance to escape.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia closed her eyes and tried to take deep breaths.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When she opened her eyes, Emilia wondered where she was before remembering she was in Evan’s bedroom. Whimpering, she put a hand on her chest, it still hurt and ached and she could feel her heart hitting against her ribcage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few moments later, Evan burst into the room. He looked a little sweaty and slightly red but in his hand was a familiar coloured box. He had a bottle of water in his other hand. Emilia carefully sat up, leaning against the pillows and the headboard behind her. After setting the water down on the bedside table, Evan opened the box and handed her one of the strips of tablets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia pushed one of them out of the foil and Evan unscrewed the cap of the bottle and handed it out to her. She swallowed the tablet with a sip of water. Evan watched her as she fumbled around with the packet and took another one. Emilia handed him the drink back and she stared at the strip of tablets. He knelt next to the bed as he put it on the bedside table. She felt a little awkward as he watched her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t a new pack of tablets, the box had been opened before and it had four missing from one of the strips. She couldn’t remember how many she had taken but it didn’t seem like Evan had taken too long.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are these from my room?” she asked, looking up at him. She didn’t know where else he could get them from and Aunt Kat’s house was only a fifteen minute walk from where she had been hit and that couldn’t have been too far away from the house. He nodded. How did he get into her house? Aunt Kat was probably at work if he managed to get in.<br/></span>
  <span>“They are,” he said. His hand moved to his pocket. “This was right next to it, I thought you might have wanted it.” He pulled something out of his pocket and he offered it to her in his open palm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her ring.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia grabbed it and looked at it for a moment. She didn’t lose it.<br/></span>
  <span>“Thank you,” she whispered as she put the ring of her finger. It did mean that Evan had definitely been to her Aunt’s house. “How did you get in Aunt Kat’s house?”<br/></span>
  <span>“I have your keys and she’s at work today,” he said awkwardly.<br/></span>
  <span>“You have my keys?” Emilia asked with raised eyebrows. She wasn’t too surprised but she couldn’t think of when he would have gotten them.<br/></span>
  <span>“I picked them up from the road.” She nodded, she probably could have guessed he had done something like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shall I leave you up here?” he asked as he stood up.<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia nodded. “If that’s okay with you.”<br/></span>
  <span>Evan’s phone screen lit up but he didn’t unlock it, was he checking the time? He stared at the screen for a moment and then to her. He locked it and put it back in his pocket. “That’s fine. Call if you need me.” Emilia nodded and watched him leave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia stared down at her ring. He must have followed her to Aunt Kat’s house before and he had to have watched it enough to know when Aunt Kat was at work. Still, it had meant he had saved her life twice now. His mother would have killed her if he hadn't been there to move her out of the way and if he hadn't known where she had lived, she wouldn’t have been able to take her medication.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hated that his stalking had led to him saving her life. She also hated that she had called for his help. Emilia regretted it, she shouldn’t have called his name when she needed help. He had murdered his aunt, albeit on accident, but he had still left her there on purpose. Though, she had abused him and Evan wasn’t exactly all there judgement-wise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking around the room, she realised it was quite nice. Spotting a clock on the bedside table, she strained to read the time. Five o’clock. How long had she been lying there?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan didn’t want to hurt her, Emilia was certain of that much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she couldn’t deal with being stuck in his house any longer.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Evan brought food up to her while she was still in his room. It was nice but she didn’t enjoy it. While her heart had calmed down, her chest still felt uncomfortable, something still felt wrong. She ended up sleeping there too, Evan fetched her some pajamas from the room for her before heading downstairs to sleep on the couch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She woke to the smell of bacon the next day. Her chest felt mostly fine and as she stood up, Emilia didn’t feel light headed. She headed to the other room, grabbed some clothes and changed in the bathroom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Heading downstairs, she stood on the bottom step of the stairs and watched him cook. Turning to grab a plate, his eyes widened.<br/></span>
  <span>“Emilia?”<br/></span>
  <span>She nodded. “Hey.”<br/></span>
  <span>Evan grabbed two plates. “Are you okay?”<br/></span>
  <span>“As well as I can be, I guess,” she said quietly. He just nodded as he turned to grab bread to make sandwiches with the bacon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They both stayed in the kitchen to eat. Evan put the plates in the dishwasher before turning to Emilia with a sombre look on his face.<br/></span>
  <span>“If Nathan wasn’t there,” he said. He trailed off and took a deep breath. “I would have let you go.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Liar.” Emilia didn't even hesitate. Why would he have just let her go like that? There was no reason for him to.<br/></span>
  <span>“No,” said Evan, shaking his head. “No, it was wrong to take you and to bring you here.”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia turned around and turned her back to him. It was childish but she didn’t know what else to do. “I don't believe you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan walked around her and Emilia looked away.<br/></span>
  <span>“I know now. You're scared, and I've hurt you, and that's wrong. I know that now.” It did seem like he understood. Hesitantly, Emilia looked back at him and their eyes met. “I am truly sorry for what I've done.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I…” Emilia looked away again, feeling tears well up in her eyes. How could he say that? After everything he had done, after everything he had caused, how could he then apologise?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I need some time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He just nodded and Emilia headed up the stairs as quickly as she could without running. She shut the door behind her, hoping it wouldn’t get locked. Lying on the bed, she buried her face in the pillow and let herself cry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t tell if she was crying tears of anger or sadness but there was a lot of tears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why did he have to apologise now?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia twirled her ring around her finger, the one her mother had given her. She took the ring off her finger and held it in her hand. With her fingers wrapped tightly around it, she held it close to her heart. She might not ever see her mother again and that thought was unbearable. And that just caused more tears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia wished that she could go home. She didn’t care that Evan had apologised and that he knew it was wrong and that he would have let her go to Aunt Kat’s if Nathan wasn’t there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wanted to go home.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Even once she had stopped crying, Emilia had to give herself some more time. Mostly out of the fear that she’d end up crying in front of him and that was the last thing she wanted to do. She wasn’t sure if she should bother going downstairs again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were two soft knocks on the door.<br/></span>
  <span>“What is it?” she asked, her voice didn’t quite sound right, probably from the crying. She realised she probably didn’t look great.<br/></span>
  <span>“Your medication, how many do you take?” he asked.<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia stood up and pulled the door open. “One,” she said as she noticed he had a bottle of water for her and the box of tablets in one hand. He held out the water and she took it from him. He then opened the box and popped one of the tablets out of its foil packaging and handed it to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She swallowed the tablet and then took a sip of water. “Thank you,” she said. He was going to control all of her medication. Maybe he was worried she would try to overdose. She had thought of it during those seventeen days but she thankfully didn’t have any to take.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you alright?” he asked.<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia shrugged. She wasn’t sure. “I don’t know, I still want to go home.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I know,” he said softly.<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia looked up at him. “The next time I leave,” she said. “Would you let me leave?”<br/></span>
  <span>“As long as Nathan or my mother isn’t there… yes,” he said, nodding. “I’m probably going to be in prison at some point anyway. I… I deserve it, I think.” Emilia wasn’t sure how to react to that. She just nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was quiet for a moment and then Evan moved the topic of the conversation onto dinner, apparently she had been in the room for a few hours. Compared to all of the other days, the day was one of the nicer ones. She ate nice food and stood outside for a while. Evan didn’t hold her hand this time. They watched one of the John Green movies before Emilia headed up to sleep in the room. Evan stayed awake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sleeping was irritating, whatever she did, she couldn’t get comfortable. Emilia was tired the next morning. Evan watched her take her tablet after breakfast and then she ended up reading the book she had started several weeks prior while he worked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After eating dinner, Emilia stood outside again. It was warm and the air was still fresh and clean. She turned to look at Evan who stood in the doorway.<br/></span>
  <span>“How did you break your phone?” she asked. “I’ve been wondering for a while why it’s so cracked.”<br/></span>
  <span>“When I get pins and needles in my hands, sometimes it means I drop things and I’ve dropped my phone a fair few times,” he explained as he leaned against the door frame. Emilia hummed and nodded. That answer made sense to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, thinking back to Oak Park High, and your accident. There’s no way you could have fallen down three flights of stairs on accident,” she said bluntly. “I had a lot of time to think in that room, there isn’t any way.”<br/></span>
  <span>Evan bit his lip. “I know there isn’t. But there weren’t any cameras and I didn’t remember and still don’t and no one’s going to admit to it.”<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia frowned. “I’m sorry that happened to you. I’m sorry your aunt was such a bitch too.”<br/></span>
  <span>“She’s gone now, it’s fine,” he said, taking a deep breath after he said it. Emilia just nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is she out here?” asked Emilia. ‘Here’ meant the forest and she hoped he understood what she was trying to ask. Evan’s gaze moved away from her and then he nodded.<br/></span>
  <span>“Yes, she is.”<br/></span>
  <span>“And no one’s found where she is?”<br/></span>
  <span>He shook his head. “No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wish you had a better family, mostly that you had a better mother,” she said quietly, looking away from him. Emilia hoped that she hadn’t offended him. “My mom’s ill and has every reason to be a bad parent, she didn’t want me, raised me alone and then discovered she had cancer. And yet, she’s still a brilliant mom. I wish you had a better one, maybe none of what happened to you would have happened.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I wish that too.” Evan took a step backwards, inside the house and Emilia followed.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Emilia slept better that night. Evan hadn’t seemed too offended at what she had said, it seemed like he had sort of agreed. She took her medication like she had done the day before, with Evan watching her. As she ate breakfast, Evan’s phone started ringing. His eyes widened as he looked at his phone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Amy?” he said. He answered the call and lifted his phone to his ear. “Are you alright?” Emilia couldn’t hear the other half of the conversation but Evan kept talking to his friend. Slowly, Evan moved out of the kitchen and to the stairs before heading up them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had her medication and she couldn’t get her shoes from the bedroom, or the clothes she had been wearing when she had been hit by the car. She figured that it could be used as evidence and it wasn’t as if it was her only box of her medication. She did have her ring which her mother gave her, that was all she really needed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia looked up the stairs and then towards the front door. Quickly and quietly, she moved towards it and slowly opened it. She was thankful it was open. Then she took off running. Her chest didn’t hurt this time and she didn’t slow or stop. There was no Nathan to stop her and Evan had said that if she left again and they weren’t there, he would let her go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She made it to the road, the black tarmac was warm on her bare feet as she walked along the edge of the road. Emilia kept looking over her shoulders, both at the road and into the forest, making sure no one was following her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A black car drove past and slowed down. Slowly, it reversed and Emilia wondered if she would have to run into the forest. Evan did have a black car. It stopped in front of her and she willed herself to run towards her aunt’s house.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>None other than Mr Miranda stepped out of the car.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emilia?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Mr Miranda?” she asked, letting out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t Evan. It wasn’t Evan, it was Mr Miranda.<br/></span>
  <span>“Are you alright?” he asked. He scrambled to pull out his phone. It was weird seeing her music teacher wearing jeans and a shirt. “I’ll call the cops.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I just want to go to my aunt’s,” she said as he held his phone up to his ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It only took a few minutes to inform them and tell them that she’d be at her aunt’s house. Emilia hesitantly accepted the offer of him driving her to her aunt’s house.<br/></span>
  <span>“I was on my way to visiting your um, my girlfriend,” he said as he drove down the road. It was only a five minute drive, if that. When the car stopped, Emilia jumped out and ran up to the door. It was open and her aunt stood in the kitchen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neither of them said a word as they ran to each other, hugging the other as tightly as they physically could.<br/></span>
  <span>“You’re safe now,” her aunt whispered as she moved Emilia’s hair out of her face. “You’re safe now from whoever it was, they can’t get you now, you’re safe here.” Emilia felt tears run down her face.<br/></span>
  <span>“I’ve missed you,” she managed to whisper through the crying.<br/></span>
  <span>“Oh, Emilia,” she muttered. “I’ve missed you too, you’re back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia was finally free.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Mr Miranda awkwardly stood in the doorway as the two pulled away from their hug.<br/></span>
  <span>“Richard,” said Kat, finally realising the man existed. Kat walked over to him and kissed his cheek before pulling him into a hug. “Thank you, so much.”<br/></span>
  <span>“It’s the least I could do,” he said, smiling at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia stared at the two, she’d only seen her aunt kiss someone’s cheek when she was dating whoever it was.<br/></span>
  <span>“I’m just…” Mr Miranda turned to Emilia. “I’m glad your safe now, I called the cops and told them, they said they’d send someone out as soon as possible.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Thank you,” said Kat, smiling at him. There was something about her tone of voice and the way that she smiled at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you two together?” she asked. Mr Miranda hadn’t asked for her aunt’s address and he had said that he was visiting his girlfriend and he had slipped up with what he was saying. Emilia knew the answer as both of them shared a look. “Right, okay, my aunt and my music teacher are dating.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emilia,” sighed her aunt. “I know it’s weird and maybe a bit difficult for you but we were together in high school and he wanted to help find you and help me. And things kinda got… well, yeah, we’re dating.” Emilia furrowed her brow and immediately decided she didn’t want to know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her aunt shuffled Emilia into the living room and they both sat down.<br/></span>
  <span>“I need to talk to you about something, before the police get here and that,” said Kat as she held Emilia’s hands in her own. A sickening feeling welled up inside her.<br/></span>
  <span>“What is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emilia,” started Aunt Kat. They heard the door shut and Emilia could see Mr Miranda head into the kitchen. “Listen, I know this isn’t a great time to tell you but I want to tell you sooner rather than later.”<br/></span>
  <span>Dread pulled her stomach down, something was wrong. “What is it?” she asked quietly.<br/></span>
  <span>“Your mother… Penny, she…” Aunt Kat took a deep breath. “She passed away, three days ago... on Friday at half past one in the afternoon.”<br/></span>
  <span>“No,” was the first thing Emilia said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t be gone. Her mother couldn’t be dead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia couldn’t stop crying as her aunt wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a hug again. Emilia tried to pull the ring off of her finger which her mom had given her but it wasn’t there. She was certain she had been wearing it that morning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Last Friday…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Three days ago…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That had been when Nathan had stopped her from escaping and Evan had fetched her medication.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If she had left…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mom died thinking I was missing.”<br/></span>
  <span>“She went knowing you’d be safe, somehow.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I’ll never get to see her again.”<br/></span>
  <span>Aunt Kat shook her head. “None of us will. But we do get to say goodbye to her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were interrupted by three knocks at the door.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Kat wiped her eyes with one of the tissues from the box of them on the table before opening the door. Mr Miranda nervously stood close. Emilia copied her aunt and grabbed one of the tissues to wipe her eyes with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Katherine, hello, are you alright? We saw the door open for a while as we were walking past and just wanted to make sure everything was alright.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia froze as she heard the shrill voice of Evan’s mother.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, yes,” said Aunt Kat. She sounded uncomfortable. Mr Miranda seemed to notice Emilia’s weird reaction as he gently nudged her aunt. “Everything’s as alright as it can be at the moment.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Have you heard anything about Emilia?” That was Nathan’s voice. Emilia felt tears well up in her eyes again and she quickly wiped them dry with the mostly damp tissue in the hand.<br/></span>
  <span>“Yes, Em is fine now,” said Kat. “She’s back here, safe, no need to worry about her now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Creeping over to the door, Emilia listened as Nathan asked if he could see her. Kat refused, telling them that they just wanted to spend some time together and make sure she was alright.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, I heard a rumour that she had run away with my eldest, Evan,” said Melissa with a sharp tone. Mr Miranda’s eyebrows raised.<br/></span>
  <span>“Wouldn’t he be in his 20s now?” said Mr Miranda.<br/></span>
  <span>“Yes, but he never has been… normal.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I don’t know, he always seemed rather quiet and nice, both before and after the accident,” said Mr Miranda. Emilia leaned against the door frame, just out of sight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad to hear Emilia’s okay.” Nathan. “I’ve missed talking to her, you know?”<br/></span>
  <span>“You thought I was better off dead,” said Emilia, not thinking before blurting the words out. Kat and Mr Miranda looked at her with confused expressions. “You thought that your mother was right, that I should be dead. I’ve told you before, you are not my friend, I want nothing to do with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emilia…”<br/></span>
  <span>“Don’t talk to my son like that,” snapped Melissa. “We have no idea what you are talking about.”<br/></span>
  <span>“No?” said Emilia. Kat stood between Emilia and Melissa and Nathan and she was glad, Emilia might have hit one of them otherwise. “You hit me with your car.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I did no such thing,” said Melissa before turning to Kat. “Katherine, please, your niece is clearly having some problems, we just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emilia?” asked Kat sternly without looking away from Melissa. “Did she hit you with her car?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Yes, she did,” said Emilia.<br/></span>
  <span>“Did she take you too?”<br/></span>
  <span>“No,” Emilia said honestly. “Her eldest son did, Evan. He took me to stop her from killing me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Melissa’s expression morphed into one of fury as she took a step back and held her head high.<br/></span>
  <span>“How dare you!”<br/></span>
  <span>“Please leave,” said Kat. She was trying her hardest to be polite. “The cops are going to be here soon.”<br/></span>
  <span>“My brother wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Your half brother,” Emilia said coldly, staring at Nathan. “You like pointing that out to him, that he has a different father.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Excuse me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia let the arguing fade out as she leaned against the wall, she felt sort of light headed. She watched as Mr Miranda tried to stop her aunt from doing something stupid. Twice she tried to shut the door on them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emilia stared off into the distance, over their shoulders. There were three black cars on the driveway. Her aunt Kat’s car, Mr Miranda’s car and…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Emilia stared at Evan as he walked towards the house. He stood a few feet behind his mother and his half brother before speaking.<br/></span>
  <span>“Emilia,” he said. She was thrown off by the sudden chest pain. “These are yours.” He almost pushed his mother away as he stood on the doorstep and held out her medication and her keys. Emilia went to grab them but Kat stopped her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Evan!” yelled Melissa. Her brown eyes narrowed at Evan. “How dare you, you fucking idiot?” Evan flinched at her loud voice but carried on holding them out for Emilia. Ducking under her aunt’s arm, Emilia grabbed them from him. She noticed his sleeves were rolled up. He smiled a little and then flinched as his mother shouted at him. “I am your mother, are you even listening to me? They think you kidnapped her niece!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan turned and stared at his mother. “I did take her, I panicked when you hit her with your car and I didn’t know what to do and took her with me.”<br/></span>
  <span>“Evan Harper, you will listen to your mother!” Emilia saw the anger in his eyes before he turned and grabbed Melissa Harper by the throat.<br/></span>
  <span>“You are not my mother,” he spat. “Why did you want to do it?”<br/></span>
  <span>“Do… what?” she said as she struggled to get his hand from around her throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not sure of what else to do, Mr Miranda stepped out from behind the two females and tried to separate the two. Nathan tried to separate them by hitting Evan. Emilia just grabbed her aunt’s hand with her free hand, she didn’t know what else to do. He was angry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why did you want her dead?”<br/></span>
  <span>“She was like you,” she managed to squeak out. Evan’s eyes widened.<br/></span>
  <span>“Evan, stop,” shouted Emilia. As much as she hated Melissa, she couldn’t watch Evan strangle her. “You don’t need to make things worse.” His head snapped towards her and his fingers let go of Melissa’s throat. He took a step away from them and held his arm with the other one, covering the scar there. Nathan rushed to his mother’s aid like the perfect son.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My mother’s dead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He took another step back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She died Friday at half one, when Nathan stopped me from leaving.” Emilia looked up at him and looked into his blue eyes.<br/></span>
  <span>“I’m so sorry.” He meant it but it offered no comfort. Emilia realised her aunt had let go of her hand. Turning, she could see her on the phone in the kitchen. Looking back, Melissa and Nathan had moved away from the door, Emilia was thankful they had done so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evan shook his head. “I never wanted any of this to happen. I didn’t.”<br/></span>
  <span>“I know.” He let go of his arm and put his hand in his pocket. Evan’s eyes widened.<br/></span>
  <span>“This is also yours,” he said as he fumbled to pull whatever it was out of his pocket. He stepped towards her and held it out to her with his thumb and index finger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her ring.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was by the front door,” he said.<br/></span>
  <span>Emilia took it from him. “Thank you, Evan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She could see several police cars blocking the driveway now but she wasn’t too bothered. She could explain everything that had happened to her when the crazy family was away from her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking down at her hand, she smiled. She had her mother’s gift back, her ring was safe.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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